Int’l online gambling racket busted; five organisers held

Hyderabad: Hyderabad police have arrested five individuals for organising an international online betting racket operated through a website. The accused created accounts on social media platforms to lure punters and initially offered profits on bets. However, as the punters increased their bets, the accused controlled the process, leading to the punters losing money. The accused also procured fake SIM cards and mule accounts by paying account holders. They used these to contact punters and handle cash transactions, respectively, YVS Sudheendra, DCP task force, said on Friday.Police stated that the accused — S Srikanth, G Harish, G Satish Kumar, S Tirupathi, and A Vinod, all natives of Asifabad district — were running the racket. Initially involved in betting, they gained expertise over time and launched their own betting website to make easy money. They also created a YouTube channel to promote their website. They collected 1,000 from each punter as a registration fee, said the DCP."They also made fake videos posing as punters sharing their experiences of making profits through betting and circulated them among the members. However, as the website was manipulated by them, the members incurred losses," the DCP added.Acting on a tip-off, the central zone task force and Madhura Nagar police teams raided their rented flat and busted the racket, which had become operational a few months ago.