The Cyber Police of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate (PCPC) have arrested three men who were allegedly preparing to set up a cyber fraud call centre in Navi Mumbai.
The arrested men have been identified as Sushil Bhagwan Juwatkar (42), Pankaj Raj Kapoor (38), and Nishchal Tankbir Bareilly (27), all currently residing in Navi Mumbai.
However, the accused had previously worked in similar scam operations in Bangkok and Myanmar and were planning to target people through fake investment schemes, officials said on Saturday.
According to police, the case surfaced after a local businessman was duped of Rs 2.09 crore. The fraudsters had lured him with promises of high returns through IPOs and stock market investments. During the investigation, officials traced a transaction of Rs 1.25 lakh to a bank account, which provided a crucial lead.
Following the money trail, the cyber police zeroed in on Juwatkar in Navi Mumbai. His associates, Kapoor and Bareilly, were subsequently detained. Investigations revealed that Kapoor and Bareilly had prior experience working in cyber fraud call centres abroad and were acting on Juwatkar’s instructions to set up a similar operation locally.
During a raid, police seized several items allegedly meant for running the illegal setup. These included six mobile phones, three passports, two laptops, hard disks, POS machines, QR code scanners, debit cards, multiple bank account kits, and rubber stamps.
Police have so far frozen Rs 62 lakh from the defrauded amount, offering partial relief to the victim. Efforts are underway to trace the remaining funds and uncover possible links to a larger cybercrime network.
Officials said timely intervention helped avert a major cyber fraud operation in the region. Further investigation is ongoing.
