Vizag Cyber Crime Police Bust Betting Call Centre In Bengaluru, Arrest 13
The primary suspect, Gabbar, remains untraceable and efforts are underway to apprehend him.
Visakhapatnam:The Visakhapatnam city cybercrime police have busted an interstate online betting network and arrested 13 individuals during a raid on a call centre in Bengaluru. The operation was carried out based on technical evidence and specific intelligence.
The city police commissioner told the media during a press conference held here on Thursday that the accused were allegedly operating betting services linked to the Reddy Anna app and similar platforms.
The team seized 60 mobile phones, 13 laptops, 132 ATM cards, 137 bank passbooks, 33 cheque books, five webcams, three Wi-Fi routers, a money-counting machine and two financial ledgers.
According to a complaint filed by 31-year-old Thandi Ravi Sankar of Marikavalasa in Visakhapatnam, he was introduced to online gambling by an acquaintance who encouraged him to open several bank accounts.
These accounts were utilised for suspicious transactions, including one account that reflected `14 lakh. He decided to file a complaint after discovering the fraudulent nature of these activities.
One suspect, Konathala Jagadeesh from Anakapalli, has been arrested with regard to the case. He had previously been associated with the Maharaja betting case in Chhattisgarh.
While being interrogated, he disclosed the identities of two additional suspects named Gabbar, who is believed to be operating from overseas, and Sagar Burman from Madhya Pradesh.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed and the investigation led the police to the call centre in Bengaluru. Police tracked the suspects’ online activities by analysing IP logs from WhatsApp and Gmail, which validated their operations in Karnataka.
Digital forensic tools, such as the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR), were utilised to identify suspect devices by their IMEI numbers and to limit their functionality within telecom networks.
The arrested individuals are from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. The primary suspect, Gabbar, remains untraceable and efforts are underway to apprehend him.
The case has been registered under Sections 111(2), 319(2) and 318(4) read with 61(2) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sections 66-C and 66-D of the Information Technology Act and Sections 3 and 4 of the Andhra Pradesh Gaming Act.
