NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at multiple locations in poll-bound West Bengal on Monday as part of an investigation into the operations of an alleged illegal call centre.
The federal agency carried out searches at around 10 premises in Siliguri, Howrah, Bidhannagar and Durgapur.
The probe relates to the activities of an illegal call centre, officials said. It was not immediately clear whether the investigation is linked to political funding or inducements connected to the electoral process.
Individuals named Surashree Kar, Samrat Ghosh and Subhajit Chakraborty, along with several others, are among those whose premises are being searched. Officials said a number of people are believed to have been duped through the call centres under scrutiny.
According to the agency, the racket allegedly cheated citizens in the United States by posing as providers of Microsoft technical support.
The illegal call centre reportedly targeted victims by sending fraudulent pop-up messages to their computers, claiming that unethical browsing had caused system errors. The scammers then offered paid technical support packages under the false guise of Microsoft services. Payments were made to US bank accounts and later converted into cryptocurrencies such as USDT, Bitcoin and Ethereum before being transferred to the principal accused via China.
The suspects also allegedly posed as agents of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), threatening victims with penalties and imprisonment over supposed suspicious activities linked to Russia. Victims were coerced into making large payments through US bank accounts, which were subsequently converted into cryptocurrency and routed to the accused.
Investigators said the principal accused were also involved in converting cryptocurrency into Indian currency and managing cross-border illicit funds.
The agency added that documents and digital devices recovered during the raids are being examined to determine how the call centre operations were structured and to assess the scale of the network involved.
Officials are also investigating whether the financial transactions carried out through these call centres are linked to other illegal financial activities or suspicious networks.