As per reports, the alleged fake call centre was operating illegally and engaging in fraudulent activities. However, as soon as authorities raided the premises, locals also rushed in and grabbed whatever they could from the centre.
In the video, men across all age groups are seen leaving the premises with laptops, desktops, monitors, keyboards and other electronic equipment. Reportedly, some also grabbed furniture and even cutlery sets on the way.
Sharing the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, a user wrote, "Pakistanis have looted a call centre operated by Chinese in Islamabad; hundreds of laptops and electronic components, along with furniture and cutlery, were stolen during the holy month of Ramadan."
Pakistanis have Looted Call Centre operated by Chinese in Islamabad; Hundreds of Laptop, electronic components along with furniture and cutlery stolen during holy month of Ramadan pic.twitter.com/z6vjwBRRsq
As soon as the video was posted on the micro-blogging site, countless users flooded the comment section with hilarious reactions. One of them wrote, “Pakistan is the only country where opening a business is riskier than investing in crypto.”
“What a country,” added another one with laughing emojis. Someone wrote, “Looks like they mistook a call center for a charity drive : everything from laptops to cutlery gone!” Yet another user chimed in, “This is extremely embarrassing.”
Meanwhile, others found the incident disturbing, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. One commented, “During ramazan ...haraam.” “Nice way of celebrating a holy month,” called another user.
As per reports, the call centre came under the scanner for allegedly carrying out illegal activities and defrauding people worldwide. It seems the activities were carried out by a group of foreigners, including some Chinese nationals.
It is believed that the raid led to the arrest of 24 people, including the foreigners involved in the racket. However, some managed to flee as well.
However, this isn't the first public looting incident in Pakistan. Last year in September, people were seen attacking a newly opened mall in Karachi. These people had forcefully entered the mall and emptied the shops. They looted clothes and other items while also damaging the property as staff tried their best to manage the crowd.
Noida police on Thursday arrested 84 people, including 36 women, after a raid at a call centre on charges of duping US citizens of crores of rupees by pretending to be American government officials.
The accused had a database of around five lakh US citizens that included their names, contact numbers and some financial details which were used to target them and take them into confidence, they said. The raid was conducted at the call centre located in Sector 6, with a capacity of 150 desktops, around 5 pm on Wednesday over inputs of illegal operations being carried out from a facility during night, DCP (Noida) Harish Chander said.
“It’s a large-size call centre. We have arrested 84 people, including women, from there. The centre functioned during night,” Chander said. “The call centre was used two to three times a week and in one night alone, the gang would make Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh. They had been operating for around four months now from the facility in Noida,” the DCP said.
Two key persons who are believed to be the masterminds behind this call centre have been identified but are at large, the officer said.
The US embassy has also been informed about it, while formal communication with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Interpol is being established, the police said.
On the gang’s modus operandi, Chander said the callers would contact the gullible US citizens using voice messages and would scare them by saying their ‘social security number’ -- a unique identity given by the government ‘ has been ‘compromised’.
