RAJKOT: At least 4,000 men and women across India looking to bolster their sexual performance were fleeced with spurious medicines sold online by a gang from Rajkot whose members posed as medical experts running a call centre.The Rajkot (rural) police on Saturday uncovered the racket by raiding the call centre operating in Bhayavadar town, some 100km from Rajkot city and arrested nine people.
The victims ended up purchasing allopathic medicines that were anything but sex stamina boosters by paying 10 times the actual cost at which they were procured by the fraudsters. The racket had been flourishing for the last one year, police said.The alleged mastermind identified as Kishan is still at large and a hunt has been launched to locate him.
The co-conspirator Darshak Makadiya (27) managed the call centre operation by employing eight telecallers, all aged between 19 years and 24 years and they were trained in communicating as doctors and medical representatives.The telecallers, whose family and other background is being verified, were paid a salary of Rs 7,000 a month and a commission of Rs 50 to Rs 100 per order. They contacted potential customers through various social media platforms and collected their personal information.
Thereafter, they convinced them into purchasing the medicines saying it would enhance their sexual wellness, reduce obesity and diabetes too.Preliminary investigation suggests the accused sold pills procured for Rs 120 at inflated prices up to Rs 1,200, thus making huge profits.Vijaysinh Gurjar, superintendent of police, Rajkot Rural, told TOI, “The gang mainly targeted people from the lower income group living in the rural and semi-urban areas. They advertised products for sexual enhancement, weight loss, and diabetes management.
After getting customer details online, the telecallers confirmed orders and passed them to Kishan, who handled drug manufacturing, delivery, and payment from Ahmedabad.”Police recovered data of around 4,000 customers from the past two months — from both within Gujarat and other states. Investigators said older records were deleted, and the laptops and phones have been sent for forensic analysis to recover the data.
Makadiya and Kishan had divided the responsibilities: Makadiya, who earlier worked at a medical store, handled call centre operations, while Kishan, employed at a pharmaceutical company in Ahmedabad, managed production and logistics.A police team has been dispatched to Ahmedabad to trace him. Along with Makadiya, others arrested were Amit Meghnathi, Kashyap Makwana, Darshak Parmar, Tushar Varagiya, Rohit Lagha, Lalit Vesra, Suzal Vala and Jaydeep Ratadiya.
The seized medicines are being examined by experts to verify their contents and safety.Police have registered an FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 308 (2) (punishment for extortion), 318(4) (cheating to dishonestly induce delivery of property), 351(4) (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) and 319 (cheating by personation).Gang threatened to expose complainantsThe gang used courier services with cash-on-delivery (COD) to distribute the medicines. Customers who refused to accept orders or complained about the ineffectiveness of the medicines were allegedly threatened with fake police cases and exposure of their private details. During the raid, police seized several laptops, over a dozen mobile phones, and other digital equipment used in the operation.
