Ahmedabad, September 23, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Naroda Police in Ahmedabad have busted an alleged illegal call centre accused of targeting foreign nationals through a loan settlement scam and apprehended seven people, including two women, officials said on Wednesday.
Police said the accused allegedly posed as bank lawyers and contacted foreign nationals with offers to settle their loans for reduced amounts before obtaining their credit-card details.
Acting on a tip received during patrolling, a Naroda Police team raided Shop No. 112 on the first floor of Sahitya Arcade near Rajchandra Circle in the Naroda-Hanspura area. Police alleged that Jignesh Zalavar was operating the call centre from the premises.
Seven people — five men and two women — were found at the location. Police identified them as Jignesh Zalavar, 40, described as a businessman; Devang Sapkal, 20; Sushil Tomar, 19; Dev Vaishnav, 20; Imtiheen Chamyard, 30; Preetiben Patel, 42; and Vaishali Vedhani, 25. The latter six were listed as data-entry handlers.
According to police, Zalavar obtained lead data concerning foreign nationals through Microsoft Teams and allegedly used the information to contact potential victims while posing as a bank lawyer.
Police said the accused allegedly persuaded victims to share credit-card details on the pretext of facilitating loan settlements. The details were then allegedly forwarded to vendors through WhatsApp and Telegram, after which money was withdrawn from the victims’ accounts.
The police alleged that around 50 per cent of the proceeds were received through Bitcoin, while the remaining amount was collected in cash through hawala channels.
During the raid, police seized seven laptops valued at Rs 1.30 lakh and eight mobile phones worth Rs 1.20 lakh. They also recovered a keyboard valued at Rs 300, a mouse worth Rs 200, a CPU worth Rs 3,000, a desktop computer worth Rs 5,000 and two routers valued at Rs 2,000.
The total value of the seized equipment was assessed at Rs 2,60,500.
Naroda Police Station has registered a case under Sections 61(2)(a), 318(4), 319(2) and 54 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
Police said further investigation and legal action were underway.
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