Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI/TISWADI: In a major crackdown, the Cyber Crime Police Station conducted a late-night raid at a rented bungalow in Karmali, Tiswadi, busting an illegal call centre operation and arresting seven persons involved in an international cyber fraud racket.
The raid, carried out between 11:30 pm on April 13 and 4:00 am on April 14 under the supervision of SP Cyber Crime Raju Raut Dessai, led to the seizure of laptops, mobile phones and other digital equipment collectively valued at approximately ₹23 lakh.
The arrested accused have been identified as Jay Vijay Acharya (Malad East, Mumbai), Yogesh Mali, Rishab Dipakkumar Shah, Ashutosh Yogesh Pratap, Thakkar Parth Bharabhai, Adrian Kinsten Mariasevan and Nilesh Satish Singh.
Police said the accused were operating a fake call centre, impersonating representatives of a loan company under the name “Payday.” They allegedly targeted citizens in the United States, luring them with promises of instant loans and then cheating them into making payments via gift cards such as Sephora, Macy’s, Green Dot MoneyPak, Apple Gift Cards, Razer Gold and Xbox.
The operation was led by PI Deepak Pednekar, along with PSI Navin Naik and a team comprising HC Yogesh Khandeparkar, HC Virendra Wadkar, PC Ibrahim Karol, PC Mayur Rane, LPC Sneha Chari, PC Akshay Verlekar, PC Yash Kole and PC Sidramaya Math.
Further investigation is underway, and police have indicated that more arrests may follow.
