Delhi Police busts fake call centre; arrests kingpin, seizes Rs 10 lakh

New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) The Delhi Police has busted a fake call centre that allegedly duped people across the country with telecallers posing as representatives of insurance companies, an official said on Saturday.

The police raided a premises in Delhi's Patel Nagar and arrested the alleged kingpin, identified as Khemchand, 35, and recovered Rs 10 lakh in cash, 11 keypad mobile phones, two laptops, forged rubber stamps and fake motor insurance policy letters used in the scam, he said.

According to police, 11 women telecallers employed at the illegal facility were also found at the spot.

The call centre was being operated from a room on the second floor of a building. The accused allegedly procured vehicle owner details from an online database for Rs 5 per entry, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Nidhin Valsan said.

The dataset included vehicle specifications and owners' contact details, enabling the callers to target the potential victims whose insurance policies were nearing expiry, the DCP said.

Pretending to be the representatives of legitimate insurance companies, the telecallers allegedly persuaded the vehicle owners to 'renew' their policies, police said.

Once a victim agreed, Khemchand generated fake policy documents on his laptop using forged stamps and shared them through a messaging application or on a cash-on-delivery basis, police said.

The money was deposited into the accused's personal bank account, from which he regularly withdrew funds to avoid scrutiny or potential freezing of the account by enforcement agencies.

He told investigators that he hired 11 women on a monthly salary of Rs 8,000 each and offered a 2 per cent incentive on successful conversions, police said.

Police said Khemchand, who holds a postgraduate degree, claimed to have failed in securing a stable job and turned to running a fraudulent "motor insurance" operation. The recovered Rs 10 lakh is suspected to be the proceeds of the scam.

A case has been registered under the relevant sections of the BNS. Further investigation is underway to identify other possible beneficiaries of the scam or associates, police said. PTI SSJ SHS SHS