Navi Mumbai: Police book two for operating illegal call centre, cheating government

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The Navi Mumbai police have registered an offence against two persons for allegedly operating an illegal call centre and cheating the government of Rs 2.67 crore, an official said on Saturday.

The cyber police on Friday registered an offence under relevant provisions of the IPC, Indian Telegraph Act 1885 and Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933 against Sushmita Rajkumar, the proprietor of Jas Technology Pvt Ltd and N Sudha Raghavendra Rao, proprietor of Savitarka Business Solutions Pvt Ltd, the official said.

According to the police, officials of the Directorate of Telecommunication (DoT) raided a premises in Rabale in July 2023 and found an illegal call centre operating there.

Rao was arrested earlier and is presently on bail, while the other accused is yet to be arrested, it said.

The cyber police have taken over the probe from the local Rabale MIDC police station, and hence, a fresh FIR was registered, the official said.

As per the FIR, the duo allegedly operated servers using international illegal VoIP call routing and transferred international calls illegally to Indian mobile phone numbers and cheated the government.

Such activities can pose a threat to the country and its internal security, it stated.

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Meanwhile, three persons were arrested from two locations in Thane district of Maharashtra and banned drugs, including Mephedrone, estimated to be worth Rs 10.74 lakh seized from them, police said on Saturday.

Anti-Narcotic Cell officials nabbed two men, both residents of Thane city, near the civil hospital on Thursday night and seized drugs estimated to be worth R.7.88 lakh from their possession, an official said, adding that another man was held from Mumbra.

A total of 109 grams of drugs were recovered from the trio.

Two FIRs were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and further investigation is underway, the official added.

In another incident, an offence has been registered against a 27-year-old woman and her sister for allegedly abetting the suicide of her husband in Maharashtra's Thane district two months ago, police said on Saturday.

Based on a complaint, the police on Friday registered an offence under section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code against the two sisters, an official said.

Sachinkumar Mishra, a resident of Davdi village in Dombivili, committed suicide by consuming rat poison in October, he said.

As per the complaint, Mishra's wife Pooja frequently spoke to three men, raising doubts that she was having an extramarital affair, the official said.

The victim's sister-in-law Babita Upadayaya also threatened him saying that he would be beaten up and abducted if he interfered with his wife's friend, he said.

The man was allegedly driven to suicide because of his wife's behaviour and sister-in-law's threats, the official said, adding that no arrests have been made in this regard so far. (With inputs from agencies)