Odisha cops to visit Kolkata for further investigation into fake call centre case

Bhubaneswar, Oct 18
A team of Odisha Police will visit Kolkata for further investigation into the case pertaining to the fake call centre busted on Wednesday in the Sundarpada area of Bhubaneswar, officials have said. "Almost all of the accused persons are graduates while some of them also have technical knowledge... a team of (Bhubaneswar-Cuttack) Commissionerate police will go to Kolkata for verification of their original identity, educational qualification and other criminal antecedent," Bhubaneswar DCP Pinak Mishra told media persons here on Thursday.

The Bhubaneswar DCP said that the city police have sought the permission of a court to take all the six accused cyber fraudsters on a five-day remand. He expressed the hope that more information would be elicited during the interrogation of these accused persons.

The accused persons were on Thursday presented before the court which later sent them to 14 days of judicial custody.

Mishra also asserted that several other agencies have contacted the Commissionerate police in connection with the case.

"Haider Ali, the main accused, revealed that his team of six members was involved in sending fake emails to national and international clients who had subscribed to an antivirus software," police sources said.

"They impersonated customer care agents, providing fake numbers and inducing customers to make fraudulent transactions, earning them a monthly income of Rs 1 lakh. The team operated as call openers, interacting with customers in English to dupe customers," the sources said.

Police further claimed that the accused persons worked like a criminal syndicate, specifically a cybercrime, where they impersonated a customer care agency, committing identity theft, forging valuable documents, and stealing credentials from genuine customers.

Police on Wednesday busted the fake call centre being operated from an apartment in Sundarpada area of Bhubaneswar. As many as six accused persons, belonging to Kolkata, were arrested during the police raid.