Sextortion racket by call center busted in Delhi, 30 in custody

NEW DELHI:  As many as thirty people, who were allegedly running a fake call centre in Delhi to extort money from people who took loans through banned Chinese mobile applications, were apprehended, an official said on Wednesday.

The accused used to extort money from people by sending them derogatory messages and morphed nude pictures. DCP (East) Amrutha Guguloth said information was received that an illegal call centre is being run at a premise in Madhu Vihar for extorting money from the people.

A raid was conducted on the premises where 28 people including owner Anil Madaan, one manager, two team leaders and 24 callers, were found operating an illegal call centre. The police registered a case under relevant sections of law and initiated an investigation. On the basis of interrogation, Anil Madaan, and two of his associates Sandeep Verma and Vishal Kumar were also arrested.

Both used to provide data on victims to Anil Madan, who took a loan from a Chinese app. The accused Sandeep Verma was connected with one Chinese Albert who used to provide his data on the victim through a Chinese application namely ‘DING TALK’.  The accused Vishal Kumar was the manager of Sandeep Verma.

“Investigation revealed that for more than a year, they were running the call centre and the owner earned around `25-30 lakhs after deducting all his expenses. 15 victims/complainants have been identified so far,” the DCP said. Similar call centres are being operated by accused Sandeep and Vishal and efforts are being made to trace these illegal call centres, they said.