ED arrests Karnataka Congress MLA from Sikkim in 'illegal' betting case
ED arrests Karnataka Congress MLA from Sikkim in 'illegal' betting case
The searches spanned Gangtok, Chitradurga district, Bengaluru, Hubli, Jodhpur, Mumbai, and Goa, including five prominent casinos—Puppy’s Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Puppy’s Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino, and Big Daddy Casino.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Karnataka Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra 'Puppy' in Sikkim in connection with an illegal online and offline betting case, as reported by the Hindustan Times. The arrest was made on Saturday under the anti-money laundering law.
Following raids on Friday across multiple states, the ED seized a significant amount of assets, including ₹12 crore in cash, ₹6 crore in gold jewellery, approximately 10 kilograms of silver, and four vehicles. The agency has not specified where each item was seized.
Veerendra, the MLA for the Chitradurga constituency, was presented before a magistrate in Gangtok, Sikkim, on Friday. The ED secured a transit remand to transfer him to a court in Bengaluru.
The ED's Bengaluru zone is leading the investigation. According to the agency, the legislator was in Gangtok on a business trip to lease a casino. The ED also reported seizing property documents from the residences of Veerendra's brother, K.C. Nagaraj, and his son, Pruthvi N. Raj. Additionally, the agency claims that another brother, K.C. Thippeswamy, is allegedly running online gaming operations from Dubai.
According to the federal agency, the searches revealed that the MLA from Chitradurga was running multiple betting platforms under names such as King567 and Raja567.
His brother, KC Thippeswamy, was found to be operating three Dubai-based firms—Diamond Softech, TRS Technologies, and Prime9 Technologies—allegedly linked to call centre and gaming operations connected to the betting network.
The searches spanned Gangtok, Chitradurga district, Bengaluru, Hubli, Jodhpur, Mumbai, and Goa, including five prominent casinos—Puppy’s Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Puppy’s Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino, and Big Daddy Casino.
