Delhi Police Crack Down on Illegal Forex Call Centre in Indore, Six Arrested

By The Slate Bureau

New Delhi, May 22: The Delhi Police has busted an illegal forex trading call centre operating out of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, and arrested six people accused of duping investors across the country through fake online trading schemes, officials said on Friday.

According to police, the accused were running a well-organised fraud network built around a fake trading platform that lured people into investing in forex and online trading products by showing fabricated profits and manipulated returns.

Investigators said the syndicate allegedly cheated victims of nearly Rs 1 crore by pushing investments in assets linked to gold, silver, Nifty, Bank Nifty and cryptocurrencies.

The racket came to light after a complaint was filed on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), where a victim alleged he was induced by a woman to invest in forex trading. Police said the complainant was repeatedly asked to transfer money under various pretexts such as leverage charges, GST, penalties, TDS and account unlocking fees. During the probe, officials found that more than Rs 10.5 lakh had been transferred into multiple bank accounts allegedly controlled by the accused.

“A team carried out technical surveillance, mobile tracking, IMEI analysis and scrutiny of financial transactions before tracing the network to Indore,” an officer said.

Based on technical inputs and local intelligence, police raided a premises in Indore’s RNT Marg and discovered a fully functional illegal call centre allegedly running the operation. Officials said 41 people, including 35 tele-callers, were present at the office and were actively contacting potential victims while convincing them to invest through the fake trading platform.

The six arrested accused have been identified as Kartik Aggarwal, alleged mastermind and owner of the operation; Raja Aggarwal, co-owner of the call centre; and team leaders Harsh Keshre, Nikhil Bhalse, Deepak Umath and Vipin Yadav.

Police said the syndicate used fake identities, mule bank accounts, fake SIM cards and layered banking channels to avoid detection. During the raid, officials recovered an extensive digital and financial setup, including 47 mobile phones, 46 SIM cards, 29 computer systems, 10 cheque books, debit cards, POS swipe machines, routers and a MacBook. Cash worth Rs 1.21 lakh, along with foreign currencies including US dollars, Thai baht and UAE dirhams, was also seized.

“The fraud network had developed a highly organised operational model resembling a professional business setup,” the officer added.

Police further revealed that customer databases were allegedly sourced through social media channels and online marketplaces, after which tele-callers approached targets posing as trading advisors and investment experts. Victims were initially shown manipulated profits on fake dashboards to build trust and encourage larger investments.

The investigation also uncovered a fresh money-laundering pattern where the cheated funds were routed through multiple mule accounts before being layered through gold loan repayment and top-up mechanisms to conceal transaction trails.

Police said the alleged mastermind, Kartik Aggarwal, had previously worked in brokerage and trading-related firms before entering illegal forex trading operations. Further investigation in the matter is underway.

(With Inputs from PTI)