PANAJI
The Additional Sessions Court, Panaji has dismissed the anticipatory bail applications of two Gujarati natives, who are facing charges of operating an illegal call centre in St Inez.
The accused applicants, identified as Mihir Desai and Krutush Prajapati, have been in hiding since the Panaji police conducted a raid at the premises over a month ago. The Panaji police had arrested over a dozen fraudsters in the crackdown and confiscated accessories and cash, totalling around Rs 26.43 lakh.
The accused, including the two absconders, are charged with posing as customer care service providers for Microsoft company and falsely assuring their victims “ all of whom were US nationals - of resolving computer, laptop, and tablet viruses.
The investigating officer, challenging the anticipatory applications during the hearing before the Additional Sessions Judge Edgar Fernandes, stated that their search for the accused in their native villages did not yield results.
“The offence committed by the applicants is of a highly technical nature and the victims are from another country (USA) and therefore, the custodial interrogations of the applicants are very much necessary… and the trail of the money has to be ascertained,” the prosecution said, pleading the Court to reject the applications.
The Court, in its order on Wednesday, observed that the accused did not cooperate with the investigation while dismissing their pre-arrest bail pleas.
