Loan app scam: Multi-city mega raids in Nepal expose china hand

Nepal cops seized computers and laptops

Nearly a month after this paper's correspondent visited the neighbouring nation to find out about the harassment calls a Mumbai resident had been getting from there, the Nepal police busted three call centres making calls to borrowers of instant loans via different apps. One of the centres busted is in the capital city of Kathmandu, from where the police arrested a suspected Chinese national on Monday. The deputy inspector general of Nepal police told mid-day they have also arrested some Indians.

MID-DAY was the first to highlight that the loan app scam has links to Nepal as well as China. The Mumbai police, while investigating two cases, traced to Nepal the IP address of the WhatsApp calls made to the victims. This paper's reporter, Samiullah Khan, even visited the office of the internet service providers in Nepal, but the people there refused to divulge any details.

Arrested several people working at the call centre

Nepal police, while speaking to mid-day over the phone on Monday, said they have conducted raids in Kathmandu, Rupandehi and Butwal based on the inputs from their informers. The deputy inspector general of Nepal police, Tek Prasad Rai, told mid-day, "The raids in Kathmandu, which started on Monday afternoon, are still going on. So far, we have arrested 27 people, including a foreign (Chinese) national, and seized a lot of computers, laptops, mobile phones, SIM cards and routers."

120 held from one centre

According to sources in Nepal police, the officers have been carrying out raids in different parts of the country. The first raid was conducted in Butwal city in West Nepal, close to the Indian border, on Saturday. They busted a call centre there and arrested 120 people.

"Our primary information shows that the accused were running the call centre illegally and making harassment calls to different parts of the world, including India and Nepal. They were offering [instant] loans and then the centre employees made calls to recover the same. We have found scripts [harassment/recovery calls] and are investigating the same," Rai said.

Cops seize laptops and computers from the Kathmandu call centre

They conducted the second raid on Sunday in Rupandehi, another city neighbouring the Indian border, and apprehended 13 people and seized computers and laptops. Asked if there was any communication from the Indian authorities about cyber crooks operating from Nepal, Rai said, "We have never received any communication [from India]. As far as these raids are concerned, they were based on our own input and we have arrested many people involved in cyber crime in the past, too."

Handlers could be foreigners

The suspected Chinese national arrested from Kathmandu could be behind all the three call centres, believe the Nepal police. However, they are investigating further. "We are not in a position to confirm who the handlers are, but some foreign nationals are suspected to be behind this," said Rai, who is also the Nepal central police spokesperson and information officer.

One of the call centres was operating out of this building in Butwal city. Nepal police arrested 120 people from here

In most of the cases investigated by the police in Mumbai and other districts, the handlers of the recovery agents have been found to be operating from Nepal. However, the Mumbai Crime Branch has not approached the Interpol for further investigation. Rai said, "If we receive any communication [from India], we will be happy to work on it. If Indian nationals get calls from Nepal numbers, they can also write to us." The Indian authorities are yet to communicate with the Nepal authorities to assist them in the investigations.

The deputy inspector general of Nepal police, Tek Prasad Rai

During the raids in all the three cities, the Nepal police also found that the accused were operating through WhatsApp, as the messaging site was active with different numbers on the computers. Two suicides linked to the harassment by recovery agents were reported in Mumbai and Mira Road this year. Following this paper's series of reports, the state government formed a special team that began filing harassment complaints.