Mumbai: The police have uncovered a fraudulent call centre operating under the guise of forex trading, duping vulnerable citizens with promises of high returns. Acting on a tip-off, police raided the establishment in Chunabhatti and arrested the prime accused, Sohail Rafiq Solkhi, while seizing electronic equipment and forged documents.

According to investigating officers, several complaints had been registered against online rackets persuading people that forex trading was more lucrative than the stock market. Victims were lured into investing through a specific trading application, where they were asked to link their bank accounts and purchase USDT, a digital currency that’s pegged to the value of the US dollar. Initially, they were shown significant profits, but when they attempted to withdraw their funds, their login credentials were blocked. The frauds then coerced them into depositing additional amounts under various pretexts, ultimately leading to financial losses worth lakhs of rupees.

The raid was conducted at Building No. 8, Jogani Industry, Chunabhatti, where police found Solkhi and four others operating the fraudulent call centre. A total of six computers, six laptops, 27 mobile phones, 23 SIM cards, and notebooks containing misleading instructions for scamming customers were seized. While only Solkhi has been arrested so far, police have recorded statements from the employees and are actively searching for additional suspects involved in the racket.

Assistant police inspector Pradeep Patil of Chunabhatti police station stated that the employees were instructed to assume fake identities while calling potential victims and persuading them to invest in forex trading. “The accused have been running this scam for months, deceiving numerous people. Several victims had already filed complaints on cybercrime portals, and we are in the process of recording their statements,” he said.

A case has been registered against Solkhi under sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating and dishonest inducement), 3(5) (multiple people commit a crime with a common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Information Technology Act, including section 66(K) (identity theft).