Hyderabad police on Wednesday arrested Pune-based Vishal Anil Nirmal in Maharashtra for cheating several people of lakhs through illegal gaming and cricket betting platforms.
The suspect allegedly duped his victims by promising them easy and assured profit through betting sites.
Police said that one of the victims, a man from Securandabad, who complained, was lured in 2021 through WhatsApp messages promoting online betting platforms.
The accused allegedly gained the victims' trust after showing fake initial profits on a website named ANGELBET777, a casino and cricket betting game site. He initially invested around RS 10,000 and received a small return. In 2021, he reportedly deposited around Rs 10 lakh. The accused then induced him to invest repeatedly across multiple betting platforms like GOEXCH777 and WORLD777 over several years.
The complainant reportedly lost a total of Rs 55 lakhs.
Officials said that Nirmal operated multiple illegal betting websites using agent IDs and promoted them using social media advertising and bulk WhatsApp messages and routed the money through dozens of mule bank accounts, which were opened in the names of fake shell companies.
To evade detection, he used multiple sim cars and digital payment methods.
The accused bank accounts were linked to at least 22 cyber fraud cases across the country.
Police have also seized laptops, mobile phones, SIM cards debut cards, cheque books and rubber stamps linked to shell companies.
The accused reportedly had around 57 current bank accounts, 79 SIM cards, which included Indian and Dubai numbers.
Officials said that efforts were being made to trace the other suspects involved in the racket.
