Hyderabad: The Cyberabad police on Monday, June 23, busted an online betting racket and ordered 10 websites to be shut down. Four people were arrested.
The move is a part of a crackdown against Telegram users, unauthorised betting websites, and mule accounts.
The accused were identified as Chinnamsetti Naga Rakesh, who operated Telegram accounts “ICC Toss Reports”, “ICC Toss and Hanuman”; Pottavathini Deepak: “The Mars Toss”, “The Mars Line”, “Magical Mars” and “Monthly Mars”; Guguloth Sri Ram Naik: “Sahara”, “Sahara Toss”, “Telugu Toss Line” and “Leo Fire”; and Hemanth Kumar: “ICC Cricket Ground Report” and “Balaji Cricket Analyst.”
They operated: www.stakeid.com, www.lotusplay247.com, www.royalbook365.com, www.govinda365.io, www.VIPBook.com, www.Fairplay.com, www.Lotusexchange.com, www.winbuzz.com, www.ultrawin.com, 10.www.ultrawin.games: websites which remain shut down.
The action was taken on a complaint filed by a resident of Miyapur on June 13. The complainant stated that he and his friend were duped of Rs 50 lakh and Rs 60 lakh respectively by a Telegram channel, “guaranteed TOSS FIX.”
Police said the accused created Telegram accounts, offered exclusive insider tips on cricket matches and access to fixed matches. Victims would bet on matches and were asked to transfer money via UPI to mule accounts. These accounts were opened using forged Aadhaar and PAN cards.
The accused would transfer the “profits” through fresh mule accounts. Suddenly, victims were not allowed to make large withdrawals, facing loss and huge debts.
To avoid being caught, they cleverly converted some of the money into cryptocurrency. The four men earned between 1-3 percent commission per rupee bet, bringing their earnings to Rs 25 – Rs 80 lakh.
Rakesh made a profit of Rs 1.7 crore, Deepak gained Rs 55 lakh, Naik profited Rs 30 lakh, and Hemanth made a profit of Rs 20 lakh.
They have been booked under the Telangana Gaming Act, 2017. Police also seized ten mobile phones, two laptops, five ATMs and nine passbooks.
Four specialised teams from the Cyberabad Cyber Crime Police Station (CCPS) were deployed to apprehend the accused across multiple cities.
