A Goa police team comprising personnel from the crime branch and cyber crime cell reportedly apprehended 13 persons accused of operating an illegal call centre from Morjim in Pernem. It is learnt that the call centre was being used to defraud US citizens. The accused would pose online as US law enforcement authority officials and seek payment from ‘defaulting' US citizens. However it is pertinent to note that the accused are mainly from Gujarat and Mumbai and had started operating from Goa recently. Police also seized electronic devices including 12 computers and laptops. The cause for worry is that Goa was used as the place to set up the illegal call centre. This gives a bad name for Goa and Goans across the globe. Though no Goans could be involved in the racket Goan soil should not have been used to run this racket. The police need to carry out a thorough investigation in the case and name the accused and the place of their origin so that the name of Goa and Goans are cleared from the international money racket.
