Court denies anticipatory bail to main accused in Panchkula fake call centre scam

The accused, Hardik Nain, 32, from Sector 14, was booked by the Chandimandir police station on August 21 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), IT Act, and Telecommunication Act

The court of additional sessions judge Neeru Kamboj has dismissed the anticipatory bail application of the main accused in the fake call centre racket case in Panchkula.

In its October 17 order, the court held that in the circumstances of the case, the custodial interrogation of the applicant/accused was of significance for proper investigation, recovery of case property, and discovery of facts. (HT Photo for representation)

The accused, Hardik Nain, 32, from Sector 14, was booked by the Chandimandir police station on August 21 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), IT Act, and Telecommunication Act.

His counsel had argued that the applicant was falsely implicated. The public prosecutor, however, submitted that the applicant was the main accused who used to run a fake call centre wherein employees were employed. It was argued that the call centre was being run on premises leased by the applicant, as per a rent agreement he had signed, which was also signed by co-accused Daniel David.

It was further argued that the applicant, along with his co-accused, used to defraud foreign customers on the pretext of rendering services. The prosecutor stressed that the custodial interrogation of the applicant was required to discover the modus operandi of the alleged offence, which involved defrauding foreign nationals.

In its October 17 order, the court held that in the circumstances of the case, the custodial interrogation of the applicant/accused was of significance for proper investigation, recovery of case property, and discovery of facts. “Keeping in view the aforesaid circumstances, nature of allegations and offence, the applicant/accused does not deserve pre-arrest bail,” the court stated.

As per the police case, on the night of August 21, Panchkula Police, acting on a tip-off, raided three fake call centres operating without permission in IT Park, Sector 22. The centres were allegedly targeting American citizens by fraudulently posing as customer service and technical support providers for major companies like Spectrum, AT&T, XFINITY, and CenturyLink.

The fraudsters used the Microsip-8001 dialer through a call vendor to connect with US customers calling toll-free numbers. They would pretend to “resolve” problems, gain remote access to customers’ systems via tools like AnyDesk and TeamViewer, and then steal data. The racket defrauded victims of amounts ranging from $100 to $500 via gift cards, and even large sums of $3,000 to $5,000 transferred to online wallets.