Aliganj fake call centre mastermind fled an hour before police raid, Lucknow cops launch probe

Police said three teams have been sent to Gujarat and West Bengal to trace Priyanshu Kushwaha, who allegedly ran the operation.

The alleged mastermind of the fake international call centre busted in Lucknow's Aliganj fled the premises nearly an hour before the police raid, leaving behind 16 employees, including four women, who allegedly worked under strict surveillance and daily financial targets of up to ₹1.5 lakh.

Police arrest several individuals, including four women, following a major raid on a fake international call centre operating inside Ridhya Plaza at Kapoorthala near the Aliganj area. (Naeem Ansari/HT Photo)

Police said three teams have been sent to Gujarat and West Bengal to trace Priyanshu Kushwaha, who allegedly ran the operation from NEXOLANE SOLUTION at Ridhya Plaza.

The 12 men and four women arrested from the premises are being questioned to establish the scale of the operation, its financial network and the identities of those allegedly controlling it.

“Police are now trying to determine how many foreign victims were contacted, the amount collected through the operation and whether Kushwaha was linked to other similar call centres,” said DCP North Amit K Anand.

Investigation reveals daily financial targets, employee conditions

According to police probing the case, each employee was given a daily target of ₹1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh. They were allegedly paid monthly salaries of ₹18,000 to ₹30,000, besides free food and accommodation. Police said the workforce had been recruited from outside UP.

The investigation has also revealed the restrictions allegedly imposed on employees. Their mobile phones were kept inside the office, while they were transported between their accommodation and workplace and were not allowed to leave independently, police said. Kushwaha had allegedly rented two PG accommodations, one for women employees and another for men.

Police said the operation followed a multi-layered model. Employees first contacted foreign victims posing as technical support personnel. Some allegedly used fake pop-ups and remote-access software to gain control of victims’ computers before transferring them to verification and closure teams.

Members of the closure team allegedly posed as FBI, US Treasury or other government officials and threatened victims with arrest or legal action before demanding money.