Pune Police Bust Fake Insurance Call Centre Racket, Three Arrested
Pune Police Bust Fake Insurance Call Centre Racket, Three Arrested
PUNE: The Shivajinagar police on Friday busted a fake insurance call centre operating in Wakdewadi and arrested three individuals for defrauding people with bogus insurance policies.
The arrested accused have been identified as Shankar Karoon Pokharkar (42) from Katraj, the alleged mastermind, along with Mehfooz Mehboob Siddiqui (40) from Aundh, and Ashish Ramdas Mankar (48) from Wagholi.
Acting on a tip-off, the police raided the call centre and seized 150 SIM cards, 30 bank accounts with chequebooks, 15 mobile phones, 21 data registers, 12 ATM cards, 5 PAN cards, 2 computers, and 35 fake company stamps.
The investigation revealed that in 2021, Pokharkar posed as an LIC agent and duped a Shivajinagar resident of ₹5.04 lakh, promising high returns. After receiving the money, he cut off contact. The victim later filed a complaint in 2023, leading to the crackdown.
Senior Police Inspector Chandrashekhar Sawant stated, “The accused had prior links with an insurance company and may have defrauded several individuals.”
