GJ-CALLCENTRE-ARRESTS

Guj: Call centre luring US nationals with loans busted, 7 held
    Bharuch, Feb 19 (PTI) Seven persons were Tuesday
arrested after an illegal call centre targeting United States
citizens with bogus loans was busted in Bharuch in Gujarat,
police said.
    Acting on a tip-off, a team from Bharuch police's
Special Operations Group (SOG) raided a flat in the city's
Ahmadnagar Society and made the arrests as well as seizure of
electronic items, said an official.
    "Seven persons, including main accused Asif Pathan, a
resident of Ahmedabad, ran the call centre from an apartment.
They used to dupe American citizens by offering them loans,"
the SOG official said.
    Explaining the modus operandi, he said, "They would
ask these American citizens to deposit certain amount of money
to avail the loan, and in the process dupe them. Nine laptops,
eight mobile phones, routers, extension board and a car are
among the items seized."
    Bharuch B Division police station has registered a
case, he added.
    The state has witnessed several such illegal call
centres being busted in the past few weeks, most of them
targeting US nationals.
    In one such case in Ahmedabad, in which eight people
were held, the Gujarat police sought the help of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation attache posted at the United States
Embassy in India. PTI CORR KA
BNM BNM