Chandigarh: Key accused in call centre scam denied bail

Earlier, a local court had rejected SI Kumar’s anticipatory bail plea in September, though he was later granted relief by the high court

A local court dismissed the bail application of one of the main accused, Rai Paresh Rama Shankar, in a fake call centre racket busted on the night of August 21. According to police, the accused, a resident of Kutch, Gujarat, along with co-accused Syed Fahad-ul-Hasan, confessed to paying ₹4 lakh (and later ₹8 lakh) per month in bribes to sub-inspector Satish Kumar, who has since been dismissed, for allowing the illegal operation of the call centre. Earlier, a local court had rejected SI Kumar’s anticipatory bail plea in September, though he was later granted relief by the high court.

The prosecution alleged that Fahad and his unidentified associates lured youths with false job promises (Representational Image)

The case began after police received secret information about fake call centres operating from the 2nd and 6th floors of Twin Tower, Sector 22 IT Park, and the second floor of DHSL, where the accused were allegedly cheating and extorting money from foreigners on the pretext of offering insurance-related services and obtaining gift cards from them.

The prosecution alleged that Fahad and his unidentified associates lured youths with false job promises while simultaneously defrauding foreigners in the name of insurance. Fahad was arrested on August 23, and during interrogation, his disclosure statement implicated Shankar in running the illegal call centre and defrauding American citizens.