Twelve people were booked after Pune police busted two “call centres” that allegedly cheated people through online gaming, where investigators claim customers were duped into transferring money through a network of bank accounts opened using forged Aadhaar and PAN documents.

The police said five minors were also found working at the premises and an illegal pistol with six live cartridges was recovered during the raids at the “call centres” of J K India Private Solutions Limited on the fourth floor of Amanora Chambers in Amanora Mall in Hadapsar and the third floor of Bhakti Commercial Complex in Fursungi around 4 pm Wednesday. The raids went on till the early hours of Thursday.

A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against 12 persons at Hadapsar police station on Thursday. Of them, two accused identified as Santosh Datta Venjanekar, 47, a resident of Park Infinia in Fursungi and Vinayak alias Deepak Manohar Ikke, 40, of Silver Wood Society in Fursungi, were placed under arrest. They were produced before a court on Thursday night. The court remanded them to police custody for two days for further investigation.

Police said the key accused Amit Majetia is based in Dubai and aide Bhagirath Pandya, who handles his financial transactions, is also booked in this case.

The police said people playing games on the company’s website were allegedly duped into transferring money into various bank accounts.

As stated in the FIR, the accused, Santosh Datta Venjanekar, 47, a resident of Park Infinia in Fursungi, allegedly forged the PAN and Aadhaar cards of the employees of the “call centres” to procure SIM cards and open bank accounts used to cheat people through online gaming. He also allegedly procured a pistol and six live cartridges without a gun licence, the FIR stated.

According to police, Venjanekar allegedly employed minor children and made them work illegally at the call centres.

Police said the staffers at the call centers were luring people to play online games on the company’s website by making online payments. Initially, they would win the online games and earn money. But later, they kept on losing the games and money.

A prima-facie probe revealed that daily about 300 to 400 people lured into playing online games lost money to the tune of Rs 30 to Rs 40 lakh. Police suspect the call centres had been operating for the last four months.

Police said they also seized electronic devices such as computer hard disks, auto-dialler machines, pen drives, laptops, CCTV DVRs, SIM box setups, various documents, bank passbooks, cheque books and gold and silver ornaments, during raids at the call centres.

The 12 people were booked under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 318 (4), 316 (2), 338, 61 (2), 45, and 3 (5), the Information Technology Act, the Regulation of Online Gaming Act, the Indian Arms Act, and the Juvenile Justice Act.