Mumbai Crime: Thane cops shut down fake call centre, five held

The accused were taken for the mandatory medical check-up after their arrest by Thane Crime Branch late on Wednesday. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

Following mid-day's in-depth investigation into a Thane-based fake call centre duping thousands of people of lakhs of rupees every day, Thane police have booked Stage Door Communications Private Limited (SDCPL). Five people - the company's two directors, Ganesh Tiruvalli and Ganesh Manjrekar, three team leaders (TLs), Gyaneshwar Kamble, Dheeraj Singh and Tushar Sonvane - have been arrested.

Police raided SDCPL's office on Wednesday at 6.30 pm and seized 30 hard disks. "We are trying to trace the cell phones used by the accused," an officer said.

After verifying the evidence gathered by mid-day for 24 days, the Thane Crime Branch identified a victim, cheated by SDCPL to the tune of R1.64 lakh over a period of six months since August. Police have urged other victims to come forward. SDCPL's callers used to trap people from the rural areas of various states in India, most victims being farmers.

Arrested SDCPL directors Ganesh Manjrekar (left) and Ganesh Tiruvalli

"We retrieved the Call Data Records (CDRs) of the mobile numbers used by SDCPL. A constable has been deployed to call all numbers from the CDRs and identify victims.

A victim from Nashik has come to us; we are in the process of recording his statement to register a case against Manjrekar and Tiruvalli," said senior police inspector Nitin Thackeray of Thane Crime Branch's Unit 1.

Sources at Thane police said that SDCPL was formed by a businessman in Kolkata. "The main owner is Vikramsingh Rathore, who has outsourced SDCPL to these directors. We are probing if he is also a beneficiary of the defrauded money," said a Crime Branch officer, adding that Rathore boarded a Kerala-bound flight from Mumbai at 5.30 pm on Wednesday.

The accused were arrested on Wednesday evening. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

The complainant
Arbaaz Zafar Shaikh, 23, had received a call from SDCPL in August 2019, with the caller posing as an executive of Bajaj Finance Ltd.

"I was lured with a loan at zero per cent interest. So I agreed. Thereafter, I was asked to cough up money for stamp paper, No Objection Certificate (NOC), agreement, etc. and assured that the money will be refunded. I paid them till January 2020 but was not given any loan," Shaikh told mid-day.

Shaikh claims to have made online payments to SDCPL's bank accounts. Sources have told mid-day that most of the money was withdrawn in Kolkata, where the company is officially registered. At 3.30pm on Wednesday, Tiruvalli was detained by the Crime Branch and later arrested along with the remaining four. "We have gathered all evidence, including CDRs, bank statements of the call centre's accounts, among other things," said a source.

Company shut, staff not paid
SDCPL's Thane office had been running out of rented premises. Following mid-day's report, the property's owner in Wagle Estate slapped SDCPL with a legal notice on Friday, demanding that the premises be vacated immediately. "SDCPL has stopped operations for now as the owner of the property asked us to vacate. Our last working day was Monday. The office is closed and our belongings are inside," Tiruvalli told Crime Branch officers before his arrest.

Also, SDCPL employees have not been paid February's salary. "We were informed on phone on Tuesday night that the office will remain closed on Wednesday. Our salary comes by 10th of every month. But this time, a festival has passed without any salary. We have been assured by the employer that salaries will be paid by March 18," said an employee unaware of the arrests.

Thane police have booked the accused for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act. All accused will be presented in court on Thursday.

Aug 2019
Month when the victim from Nashik was contacted by SDCPL

Five
Total no. of arrests in the case

30
No. of hard disks seized from SDCPL office

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