Panaji:

Goa police have arrested seven persons for allegedly cheating US citizens through a fake call centre, officials said on Saturday.

Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime), Rahul Gupta, said the accused persons were running a fake call centre from a hotel room at Calangute in North Goa.

“They impersonated agents from loan companies, Amazon HQ staff, bank employees, government agencies, and law enforcement agencies, thereby cheating innocent citizens from the US. Our investigation has revealed that the accused made voice calls to US citizens and those who continued with the calls were induced to transfer money,” Gupta said.

The arrested persons hail from Gujarat, Nagaland, Rajasthan, and Assam.

“Four laptops, one TP-Link router, and a D-Link switch were seized from the hotel room, which will be sent for cyber forensic examination,” the SP said.

A case has been registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A 36-year-woman from Nepal, the daughter of a mayor in India’s neighbouring nation, who had gone missing on Monday has been found, police said. She was found at a hotel in North Goa’s Mandrem, authorities said.

Her father Gopal Hamal had said that his elder daughter Aarti has been missing since Monday, following which Goa police registered a case and launched a search operation.

Aarti Hamal had been staying at an Osho meditation centre in Goa for the past few months. She was last seen near Ashwem Beach, her father said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Gopal Hamal, the mayor of Dhangadhi sub-metropolitan city, said that they received a message from Aarti’s friend that she had lost contact with her. When the family tried to reach her, they got no response and alerted the police.

“My elder daughter Aarti is an Osho meditator and has been living in Goa for the past few months. However, I received a message from her friend stating that she lost contact with Aarti near Zorba Beach, Ashwem yesterday. I request those living in Goa to assist in the search for my daughter, Aarti,” Mr Hamal said.

“Also, my younger daughter Arzoo and son-in-law are flying to Goa tonight to look for our elder daughter Aarti,” he added.

Her sister, Arzoo Hamal, also posted an update on Facebook saying that some callers had claimed to have seen Aarti at a bridge near Siolim.

“Some of the people have been very helpful and we are eternally grateful to them. According to some callers she was last spotted at a bridge near Siolim. Few of them believe that she was taken to a hospital from there in an ambulance as she was found unconscious while the others have been saying that she was taken to the police station,” Arzoo said in a Facebook post.

“But nothing has really been clear so far. An FIR has been logged and we are hoping to find my sister soon,” she added.