Gurgaon: Five people, including two women, were arrested during a raid at a loan recovery call centre in Delhi’s Mangolpuri for allegedly using abusive language, threats and private photographs of people to harass them while recovering loan dues.The case came to light after a complainant approached Cyber Crime East police station on May 22, alleging that unknown persons had repeatedly called him and his family members from multiple mobile and WhatsApp numbers, causing mental harassment.According to the complaint, the callers were attempting to recover a loan taken by another individual. “Despite being informed that the complainant had no connection with the borrower, they allegedly continued to abuse and threaten him and his family members. The accused also sent repeated spam and OTP messages and circulated the family’s private photographs on WhatsApp in an attempt to pressure them into facilitating the loan recovery,” an officer said.Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered under relevant provisions of BNS and IT Act. The investigation led the police to the call centre, where a raid was conducted on June 29. Those arrested include Vinita, Suchita, Nitesh Rathore alias Ankit, Sahil and Pawan Gola, all aged between 22 and 27 years and residents of different parts of Delhi.During interrogation, investigators found that the accused had allegedly been engaged by a financial institution to recover loan dues. Police said that instead of following lawful recovery practices, they allegedly tried to create psychological pressure and coerce repayment.Police also recovered data related to around 180 Axis Bank credit card holders from the call centre. “The details include the names of the card holders, PAN details, PINs and credit card limits. We are examining how the accused obtained this data,” an officer said.Police said an investigation is underway to identify the financial institution that outsourced the recovery work and determine whether others were involved in the racket.
