Bangalore: In a joint operation with BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) and VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited) officials, police have busted two illegal international telephone rackets which evaded revenue to the telecom firms to the tune of Rs seven crore.

In two separate raids on an IT training firm and a call centre on October 19, police found the illegal operators bypassing the BSNL and VSNL lines and providing ISD connectivity by leveraging the internet through routers.

The police seized routers, modems and computers valued at over Rs 25 lakh, which were used to divert calls to the tune of Rs one crore in the last 20 days from the IT training firm and arrested its owner.

They have arrested a person from the call centre, which diverted international calls to the tune of Rs six crore in the last two months, police said.

A case has been booked under IPC and Indian Telegraph Act.

This is the second major breakthrough by the police of busting international call rackets since last month when they arrested five people and recovered equipment worth Rs 40 lakhs from a call centre which was leveraging internet to divert calls to the tune of crores of rupees.

PTI