Ongole Taluka police on Wednesday arrested six persons for their involvement in the operation of an online betting racket and misusing bank accounts of people to transfer money to foreign countries. The police are in the process of arresting eight others who are also linked to the betting racket. The accused created and sold multiple bank accounts to facilitate their monetary transactions.
Shaik Nayab Rasool from S.N. Padu, Arusumalla Praneeth Kumar from Hyderabad, Syed Shahijad Ali from Udayagiri, Singanaboina Chaitanya from Nellore, Shaik Khadarunnisa from Kurnool, and Shaik Ayesha from S.N. Padu were arrested near Peerlamanyam and Arunodaya Colony at Pernmitta village, S.N. Padu mandal, in Prakasam district on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference, Prakasam Superintendent of Police (SP) A.R. Damodar said, “The main orchestrator, Shaik Yasin, a native of Udayagiri and currently residing in Hyderabad, maintained contacts with international online betting app operators named White, Jimmy, and Maunika through the Telegram app.”
“The group offered lucrative amounts from ₹15,000 to ₹45,000 in exchange for opening savings and current accounts, along with submission of ATM cards, SIM cards, and bank passbooks. Praneeth, Nayab Rasool, and others coordinated with individuals like Syam, Ajay, Vijay, Chaitanya, and others to deliver the account kits to foreign handlers via couriers,” he informed.
These accounts were used to route betting money internationally, exploiting net banking and digital verification methods. They have operated across Nellore, Ongole, and Hyderabad, and have used banks like Karnataka Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, and Federal Bank to create fake accounts. Efforts are on to arrest Ajay, Vijay, Syam, Rabbu, Shaik Yasin, Jimmy, White and Maunika, police said.