Mumbai call centre raids: All accused are 20-somethings who could speak English, handle computers, says Police

The police take away some of the accused from one of the call centres at Mira Road’s Naya Nagar (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

All the 70 accused in the Thane Police’s raid at nine call centres in Mira Road are youngsters in the age group of 22 to 30 years, who could speak English and had a knowledge of computers.  “Most of them are in the age group of 20-30. There are a few minors. About 30 percent of the accused are women,” Thane Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said.

With most of the accused barely out of college, their parents are worried about the “mess” their employers have got them in. “My son told me he got recruited as a recovery agent and contacted people when they didn’t pay their taxes. He got Rs 18,000 a month and joined in August. I didn’t know he was duping people. Even he must have not known. The police have asked him to come later to record his statement,” said Mira Road Resident Asif Zakri.

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Two brothers whose sons were employed at one of the raided call centres said they got worried when their children didn’t return home until 8 am on Wednesday.

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“He works from 6 pm to 5 am. When he didn’t return, I went to his office with my brother and found the police. My son is a minor, he could speak English. We didn’t know he was being taken advantage of,” said the 50-year-old father.

The police will produce the arrested accused before a magistrate on Thursday for remand.