Thane Police file chargesheet in call centre scam

Mumbai: The Thane police filed its chargesheet in the call centre scam on Friday. The crime branch submitted the chargesheet in a session’s court in Thane. Police officers said as three different cases were registered in this matter, three chargesheets were filed.

The first chargesheet is of 4,118 pages, in which 50 people have been shown as arrested while 17 are named as wanted. Another chargesheet is of 275 pages, in which 10 are shown as arrested and three are still wanted. The last chargesheet contains 1,393 pages, in which 23 are shown as arrested and eight as wanted.

The call centre scam was busted on October 4 when the Thane police raided call centres in the Mira Road-Bhayander area. As part of the scam, employees of nine call centres had allegedly extorted American citizens in the name of their tax and immigration authorities.

According to police officers, they had registered cases in Kashimira police station under various sections of the IPC for cheating by impersonation, cheating, extortion, criminal conspiracy and causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender along with relevant sections of IT act. Another two FIRs were lodged in Naya Nagar police station of Mira Road.

According to the chargesheet, they have recovered items worth Rs 4,18,67,615 (Rs 4.18 crore) in the first case of Kashimira police station, in which case fraud of Rs 14,19,67,659 (Rs 14.19 crore) was recorded. The police recorded the statements of as many as 133 people in the case.

Earlier it was reported that the charge sheet would include testimonies from five employees-cum-friends of alleged mastermind 23-year-old Sagar Thakkar aka Shaggy. Sources had informed that the five witnesses are willing to turn approvers. A crime branch official said the five close aides were likely to apply for turning approver.