Belagavi Police Bust Major Fake Call Centre Targeting US Citizens; 33 Arrested in Nationwide Cyber Fraud Network
The Belagavi Police on Tuesday uncovered a major fake call centre operating in the city that had been scamming US citizens through sophisticated cyber fraud schemes.
A total of 33 people employed at the illegal facility were arrested, and police seized 37 laptops, 37 mobile phones, and several data-storage devices used in the operation.
Those arrested come from several states across India, including Gujarat (4), Rajasthan (2), Maharashtra (7), Jharkhand (4), Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and West Bengal.
Some of the identified accused include Pritesh Naveen Chandra Patel, Meeta Rajubhai Gupta, Karan Bahadur Rajput, and Harikishan Vishnu Prasad Upadhyaya from Gujarat, along with Ashutosh Vijay Kumar from Delhi.
This bust follows a similar crackdown last month in Bengaluru, where police arrested 16 people from another fraudulent BPO operated by a Rajasthan-based engineer.
Both raids were carried out after Karnataka Police alerted cybercrime units to suspicious activities.
School Dropouts Employed for Fraud
The Belagavi City Cyber Crime police registered a case after receiving information about a suspicious setup at Kumar Hall in Ajjam Nagar Circle.
When officers raided the premises, they found 20–30 individuals posing as police officers and bank officials while calling foreign nationals to intimidate and extort money.
The FIR states that many of these workers were school dropouts, specifically hired to trick victims.
Police Commissioner Borase Bhushan Gulabrao said the case is being treated as organised crime.
A database containing details of US citizens was recovered from the site. Authorities will now work with Interpol to gather statements from the victims to strengthen the prosecution.
The scam callers used VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and VPN services to disguise their numbers and locations, making it difficult for victims to trace the calls.
The fake call centre, which started operations in March, paid its employees between ₹12,000 and ₹40,000 per month.
Bengaluru Crackdown and Organised Crime Charges
On October 7, Bengaluru Police dismantled another fake call centre, Cybits Solutions Pvt Ltd, operating in the city’s southeast region.
Besides fraud and IT misuse, the accused in this case were also booked under Section 111 (organised crime) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)—a stronger charge since previous cases collapsed in court due to a lack of victim testimony.
The Bengaluru-based centre allegedly employed 20–25 young men and women, training them to impersonate law enforcement officers to intimidate victims in the US and Canada.
The firm’s directors, Mahipal Singh (an engineer from Rajasthan) and Vikram Singh, claimed they were not involved in the daily running of the company.
Investigators found that Mahipal founded the illegal operation in 2021, targeting foreign nationals with threats of “digital arrests.”
To attract workers, the company promised free accommodation and jobs in Bengaluru, arranging housing in HSR Layout and BTM Layout, along with transport and meal facilities.
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