Rachakonda Police bust online horse race betting racket, arrest three

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda Police Special Operations Team along with the Chaithanyapuri police busted an online horse race betting racket and arrested three persons on Friday. Police said the racketeers created a WhatsApp group for punters and were communicating on online betting matches. Police seized Rs.46,000 and nine mobile phones and issued orders to freeze Rs.2.8 […]

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda Police Special Operations Team along with the Chaithanyapuri police busted an online horse race betting racket and arrested three persons on Friday. Police said the racketeers created a WhatsApp group for punters and were communicating on online betting matches.

Police seized Rs.46,000 and nine mobile phones and issued orders to freeze Rs.2.8 lakh in a bank account. The arrested persons were A.Mahendra Varma (37), the main organizer from Bansilalpet, S.Jaya Venkata Ashok Reddy (31), a sub-organizer and K.Narendra Reddy (32), an accountant, both from Ameerpet.

According to the police, Mahendra Varma had earlier lost money on horse race betting. He resumed the illegal business after the lockdowns and started an unauthorized organized horse race betting group with punters across Hyderabad and other places.

“There were 106 participants in the WhatsApp group. They accepted online bets and money through e-wallets. For this, Varma appointed Ashok Reddy as sub-organizer and Narendra Reddy as accountant,” the official said, adding that Varma organized betting in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai and posted screenshots of races in the group.

Following a tip-off, the police caught them when they were betting on a horse race in Bengaluru.

---

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.

Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .

---