Online betting racket busted in Kallakurichi, nine held

Police said the accused lured gullible customers into pouring money into a betting app, and cheated them of huge amounts

The Kallakurichi police have busted an online gambling racket and arrested nine persons from a house in Krishna Nagar on Wednesday.

Police said that following a tip-off, a special team of police personnel led by Kallakurichi Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajalakshmi, conducted searches at the premises.

The accused, identified as M. Manikandan, 27 of Sellampattu in Chinna Salem taluk, G. Chandrasekhar, 27, A. Krishnamoorthy, 27, R. Gokulraj, 24, K. Manivel, 27, K. Aravind, 24, A. Prakash, 24, R. Manikandan, 24 and R. Balaji, 23, were found accepting betting money online, through the ‘One X Bet’ app.

Police said M. Manikandan, the kingpin behind the online betting racket, was operating from the house in Krishna Nagar and indulged in betting. The accused allegedly lured and targeted gullible customers into the betting app, and reportedly cheated them of huge amounts. Police said the app was programmed by the accused with a secret code and therefore the customers lost all their money.

The police team arrested the accused and seized nine CPUs, six monitors, one LED TV, five modems, a fingerprint scanner, 30 mobile phones, 400 SIM cards, a motorbike and one SUV from their possession. The accused were produced before a local court and remanded in custody.