Indian call centre man claims Sun stitch up

A MAN from an Indian call centre, who handed over more than 200,000 people's details to Sun hacks, claims he was set up by Britain's most popular family newspaper.

The Currant Bun claimed its reporter had obtained addresses, passwords, phone numbers and details of credit cards, passports and driving licences which could be used to raid unsuspecting victims' accounts.

However in an interview with the Beeb's world service, Kkaran Bahree, the man named by the Sun, denied flogging bank details.

He said the associate had asked him to give a CD to the reporter, but he did not know what was on the CD and did not receive any payment.

All he had been asked to do was prepare a company presentation for the Sun, which apparently had become very interested in Indian Call Centres all of a sudden. The Sun said it had bought bank details of 1000 Britons for just £3 each from Bahree, 24, in New Delhi who said he had obtained the information from contacts working in call centres.

He told them that he had gained his knowledge of the business while working at Daksh e-Services, now an outsourcing subsidiary of IBM, where he was a technical trainer.

Bahree apparently told the hack that he could provide 200,000 account details a month - including those of US citizens.

Bahree works at Infinity, a web marketing outfit in Gurgaon where his employers said they were stunned yesterday to hear the allegations against him. Despite the man's protestations, Inspector Knacker of the Yard has confirmed that it is investigating the claims.

There is some evidence that the Currant Bun might not have got everything in its story right. The Royal Bank of Scotland, named as one of the companies who had its data nicked said that it did not outsource to India, and had no connections with the ancient country.

There is a picture of Bahree with a towel over his face here. More here and here. µ