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Gurugram, Jul 1 (PTI) Gurugram police raided a Delhi-based loan recovery call centre and arrested five agents, including two women, for allegedly mentally harassing people by making repeated phone and WhatsApp calls, messages and threats, police said on Wednesday.
According to police, the accused used abusive language, threats and shared victims’ private photographs to create mental pressure while collecting loan money.
The raid came after a man lodged a complaint at Police Station Cyber Crime East on May 22, claiming that he and his family members had been receiving repeated calls and WhatsApp messages from unknown phone numbers allegedly demanding repayment of a loan taken by another person.
He claimed that the callers hurled abuses, causing
mental harassment.
“Despite denying any knowledge of the borrower, the callers continued to use obscene and objectionable language and issued threats. They also sent spam/OTP messages to him and his family members and shared their private photographs on WhatsApp in an attempt to intimidate them,” the complainant said.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered under the relevant provisions of law, police said.
During an investigation, a police team conducted a raid at the call centre located in Mangolpur Kalan in Delhi, on Monday and arrested five people.
The accused were identified as Vinita, resident of Karan Vihar; Suchita, resident of Bhagya Vihar, Madanpur Dabas; Nitesh Rathore alias Ankit, resident of Budh Vihar; Sahil, resident of Rama Vihar; and Pawan Gola, resident of Budh Vihar, Delhi.
All the accused are between 22 and 27 years old, said police.
“During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused were operating a third-party recovery call centre on behalf of various financial institutions. They repeatedly contacted loan borrowers and their family members through phone calls and WhatsApp messages, mentally harassing them to recover loan dues,” Gaurav Phogat, ACP (Cybercrime), said.
“To create pressure, they used obscene and abusive language, sent threatening messages, shared victims’ private photographs to intimidate them, and continuously contacted them through multiple channels in an attempt to coerce them into making loan repayments. We are questioning the accused,” he added. PTI COR KSI KSI
