Fake call centre raided in North Goa; 33 held

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At least 33 persons were arrested for operating a fake call centre from a premises in North Goa on Tuesday, an official said.

The Goa crime branch raided a premises in Colvale village around 9.15 am and arrested the accused, who hailed from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) Nidhin Valsan told reporters.

The accused allegedly posed as the customer service staff of a popular e-commerce portal and also catered to customers from the US, he said.

The accused would note down information about customers, including their personal and bank details, and using these, they would induce the customers to make some payments to get issues with their purchases resolved, the official said.

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The police have seized 26 computers with accessories and a router during the raid, he said.

Investigations revealed that the premises of the fake call centre belonged to one Tarak Arolkar from Mapusa, who had contested the 2022 Goa Assembly election as a Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate.

When contacted, Arolkar admitted that he owned the premises, but said he had rented it out to another person since August, 2022.

"I have 18 such premises on the rent. I have mentioned the terms and conditions. But I did not go to check what kind of business was being run from that place," Arolkar said.

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