The Pune police have named all 118 employees of a fake call centre in Kharadi as accused in a massive cyber fraud that extorted millions of dollars from US citizens under the pretense of “digital arrest.” The racket, uncovered on Saturday, saw the arrest of five individuals, while a wider investigation is underway.
Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde of the cyber police station stated, “All call centre staff have been made accused as they were aware of the illegal activities. Notices have been issued to ensure their cooperation.”
According to police, the fraudulent operation involved posing as US law enforcement agents to threaten American citizens with legal consequences in fabricated narcotics and fraud cases. Victims were pressured into paying large sums to avoid “digital arrest.”
The scam is believed to have netted Rs30,000 to Rs40,000 per day.
During the raid, authorities found 123 individuals, including 12 women, actively working at the Kharadi call centre. The five arrested were identified as:
Sarjitsingh Girawatsingh Shekhawat (26)
Abhishekh Ajaykumar Pande (29)
Shrimay Paresh Shah (31)
Laxman Amarsingh Shekhawat (28)
Aron Arumugan Christian (29)
All five are originally from Rajasthan and Gujarat but have been living in Pune for over a year. The call centre reportedly began operations in July 2024, and the lease agreement was executed in Jaipur.
Inspector Ajay Waghmare of Pune city crime branch is now leading the investigation. Police teams have also launched searches in Navi Mumbai and Ahmedabad to locate three main suspects behind the operation, who have been missing since the raid.
Investigators are also exploring how the call centre obtained data on US citizens. “We suspect dark web transactions from US-based sellers,” said a senior officer. Scripts used to extort victims have also been recovered, and efforts are on to track down their authors.
Authorities are probing why the centre was based in Pune instead of Ahmedabad or Jaipur and why the workforce was hired from cities like Delhi, Noida, Kolkata, and Rajasthan.
