Bangalore, Nov. 3: Call centre drivers were today put under the police scanner in Bangalore after a chain of late-night robberies, kidnappings and murders were traced to them.

Bangalore joint commissioner Gopal Hosur said over 100 criminal cases had been registered against such drivers, many of them cabbies employed by call centres, in the past 18 months.

Most of their victims were ITeS (information technology enabled services) professionals who have to work late or even through the night.

The move came a day after a 22-year-old woman employee of a Wipro call centre was found murdered off the Pune-Mumbai expressway.

Hosur said the targets of such rogue drivers were generally people seeking a lift at night or those stranded in their vehicles. “These drivers pretend to help them, take them through short cuts — often isolated spots where their accomplices would be waiting — and rob their laptops, valuables and credit cards,” he said.

“Some even beat up the victims, force them to reveal their PIN and return the cards after withdrawing cash from ATMs the same night.”

Call centres and other ITeS organisations, Hosur added, would do well to tighten security for employees returning late or being picked up for night shifts.

He also warned such employees against taking lifts in yellow-board (public) cabs and maxicabs after sundown. About one lakh cabs are registered in Bangalore and run through the night.

Yesterday, six call centre drivers involved in extortion and robbery were arrested.

Last December, 32-year-old IT professional Adhip Lahiri was strangled in his car and his body dumped at an isolated stretch.