Cops take call centre scam kingpin to Gujarat

The Thane police on Wednesday took Sagar Thakkar alias Shaggy to Ahmedabad to understand how he operated the tax scam from Ahmedabad.

Thakkar was the alleged mastermind of the multi-crore Internal Revenue Service (IRS) extortion racket. It involved callers working in Thakkar's call centres, who would call up US citizens impersonating IRS officials, and extort money from them.

The police had stumbled upon bank account details, lockers and call centre norms flouted by Thakkar, who was arrested on April 8 at the Mumbai international airport.

"Our police team, which is currently in Gujarat, has found strong evidence against Thakkar that will make our case watertight in court, and will help us acheive a conviction. We are reconstructing the entire sequence of events of how the racket was operated," said Abhishek Trimukhe, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Thane Crime Branch.

As per the police, Thakkar owned one bungalow in Ahmedabad (now sold), two office spaces in Ahmedabad and three Audi cars, of which two are sold. One Audi R8 has been seized by the police.