14 Held In Phone Call Racket !

[Arun 795]

14 held in phone call racket

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2004 03:35:47 AM ]

PUNE: In a major raid, the Cantonment police on Thursday arrested 14 people for their alleged involvement in a telephone call racket of national and international calls.

The suspects have been remanded to police custody till September 27 by a city court. The police have registered a complaint under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

Vishnu Mane, senior police inspector of the Cantonment police station, said officials of Reliance Infocomm had earlier called up deputy commissioner of police Vitthal Jadhav, informing him about the racket.

A police team, led by assistant commissioner of police Ashok Kamble and Mane, soon raided room number 312 at the Sterling Centre in Pune Camp.

"We have confiscated 24 phones, which were being used in the centre," Mane said.

The gang had illegally taken 19 lines of the Reliance company. "International and national calls were made through the conference call facility and the accused had established a fake company to get the phone connections," Mane said.

The suspects mostly connected calls to West Asia, along with other parts of the country. The gang was operational since September 2, 2004, and had duped the Reliance to the tune of Rs 18.65 lakh, Mane said.

The mastermind of the racket is still at large. The 14 arrested have been identified as Ayaz Sheikh (23), Akakhan Khan (18), Istibar Patel (26) Anwar Sheikh (18), Sameer Sayyed (21), Shahnawaz Safi (30), Aurangzeb Sheikh (25), Rizwan Sheikh (22), Gazib Sheikh (33),Rustam Sheikh (26), Pervez Hyder (31), Ibrahim Memon (20), Kulvirsingh Vrudhasingh (30) and Sadanand Adya (36).

Mane said the 14 suspects were just operators who knew how to divert calls and were not educated. Asked if the accused were using this business for any other illegal activity, he said the possibilities were bleak, but the police were investigating.

A similar racket, involving the BSNL, had been detected a few months ago in the city, resulting in the arrest of three people.

Stolen plastic pays cell bills

Express India - Mumbai, September 21

FIVE Reliance Infocomm customers used fake names and stolen credit cards to run up Rs 7.87 lakh in telephone bills to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in just a few months.

The Worli police have now launched a massive manhunt to nab them.

‘‘We can only make headway in the case if the cellphones are activated,’’ warned Assistant Commissioner of Police P S Wahule, confirming that a case of cheating has been registered by Reliance Infocomm.

The scam came to light after four people complained to Reliance Infocomm that the company had charged huge bills to their credit cards. None of the four had Reliance phone connections.

The bills were paid on behalf of five Reliance customers, all of whom had given fake names and addresses. Police are now checking for a mafia connection, as the five made frequent calls to destinations frequented by underworld dons.

The bills were charged to the credit cards of Chandrakant Sen, Mukesh Mehta, Bharat Joshi and Tarun Jhunjhunwalla. Reliance Infocomm has now refunded their money.

Police have zeroed in on a courier firm on LBS Marg in Ghatkopar, which was hired to deliver the victims’ credit cards. Police sources say one of the company’s employees was involved in stealing the cards.

The Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch has been alerted and is conducting a parallel investigation into the case.

‘‘Preliminary investigations indicate the compliance of a courier company,’’ confirmed a Reliance spokesperson. ‘‘We are back-tracking the phone calls.’’

Five Reliance customers with fake names ran up these bills on stolen credit card accounts in just a few months with calls to Pakistan and the Middle East. Reliance has requested that the names they used be withheld while investigations are underway.

[karpar 1]

Serves them right!

[city02 63]

serves whom?

the criminals or RIC?

or does it even matter?!