Police must find real culprits, say families of arrested staff

THANE: Families of the 70 youth arrested for their involvement in the Mira Road-based call centre racket are shattered by the sudden turn of events.Most of the youth come from working class families and their incomes helped supplement meagre household earnings.

Many of them were not conversant in English, but were trained by rotelearning and employed as diallers.

Sheraz Qureshi

, a Mira Road resident whose 21-year-old brother was arrested in the scam, said he had not even completed a month at the firm nor was he paid. “He was a dialler working for Rs 13,000 per month and, like at many collection agencies, his job was to ask tax defaulters to pay their dues.“

Sheraz said the company operated out of a posh IT building; there was no reason to suspect anything and his family of eight needed the money . “We have an eight-member joint family , and I was the sole breadwinner until less than a month ago when my brother decided to take up this job. As call centres are known to be upcoming, and I am work ing in a Mumbai-based reputed call centre, he joined one closer to home.“

The relatives and friends of these youth claim that the accused who were in junior positions had no idea about the fraudulent activities undertaken by the gang which ran the company .They fear that the ongoing criminal case against these youngsters will deprive them of an income, jeopardize their career in the long-term and also hit them socially.

A relative of one of the suspects spoke to TOI on condition of anonymity. “My 19-year-old nephew lives alone with his mother who worked as a maid earning Rs 8,000 a month. A few months ago, he saw a flyer for the call centre caller job here, applied and got in. As he was earning twice of what his mother did, he asked her to quit and take care of her health. He got his salary in cash, which was convenient for them. As he doesn't speak a lot of English, he memorised whatever they taught in training,“ he added.

About 630 employees still remain to be questioned, and with the shadow of suspicion over them, their families are apprehensive.

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