Pune: The Shivajinagar Police have dismantled a fraudulent call center operating in Wakdewadi, which was scamming people by falsely promising high returns on LIC policies.

The accused had set up an organized scheme, forging LIC identity cards and using fake company stamps, to trick unsuspecting citizens. One of the arrested individuals previously worked in LIC policy issuance and had illegally accessed customer data. This data was then used to contact people and lure them into the scam.

During the raid, the police seized multiple fraudulent items, including:

• 35 counterfeit rubber stamps of reputed companies

• 15 mobile phones used for scamming victims

• 150 SIM cards for fraudulent communications

• 30 different bank accounts and checkbooks

The arrested individuals have been identified as:

• Shankar Karkun Pokharkar (42, Resident of Katraj) – the mastermind behind the scam

• Mehfooz Mehboob Siddiqui (40, Resident of Aundh)

• Ashish Ramdas Mankar (48, Resident of Wagholi)

Pokharkar, the main accused, posed as an LIC agent and defrauded a Shivajinagar resident of ₹5.04 lakh in 2021. The victim was falsely promised lucrative returns but received nothing. After realizing the scam, he filed a complaint in 2023, leading to the police investigation.

How the Police Tracked the Accused

The Shivajinagar Cyber Crime Unit, led by officers Aadesh Chalwadi and Tejas Chopde, conducted a technical investigation to track down the fraudulent call center named ‘Future Global Services’ in Wakdewadi. A police team raided the center and arrested the accused.

The crackdown was executed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Singh Gill, Senior Police Inspector Chandrashekhar Sawant, Crime Inspector Chandrakant Suryavanshi. The investigating team included Assistant Inspector K.B. Daberav and officers Nalini Kshirsagar, Aadesh Chalwadi, Tejas Chopde, Ganesh Jadhav, Ruchika Jamdade, Swaleha Sheikh, and Saraswati Kangane.