Rachakonda: Gang running horse betting racket through WhatsApp busted, 5 held

Hyderabad: The police busted an illegal online horse race betting racket and arrested five persons on Friday. Cash worth Rs. 42 lakh was also seized from them.

The sleuths of the special operations team, LB Nagar zone, apprehended Thirmal Reddy Joji Reddy (41), Aduri Joseph Reddy (39), Daka. Ramchandra Reddy (52), Franklin Koma Reddy (39), and Bokka Madhav Reddy (47) who were running the racket through two WhatsApp groups. Besides the cash, the police seized two laptops, five mobile phones, and other articles, all worth Rs. 43 lakhs, from their possession.

After losing a huge sum of money on horse race betting, Joji Reddy had hatched a plan to make money by becoming a horse racing bookie. During the nationwide lockdown, people stayed in their homes and there were no horse races in the country. The races resumed in November 2020 but many people preferred to bet online and through their phones and apps like bet365.

A person can bet on a horse on the premises of a racecourse. If bets are accepted beyond the premises of a racecourse, it is illegal. But the gang was accepting bets from people over phones and online. Joji Reddy was running the betting racket through WhatsApp groups from his rented house in Nandanavanam, Meerpet. He was accepting bets from punters across Hyderabad and other places. Joji Reddy was receiving money through e-wallets, GPay, and Phonepay. He had hired Aduri Joseph Reddy as a sub-organizer and Franklin Koma Reddy as an accountant.

On 3 February, the SOT, LB Nagar zone, along with the Meerpet police raided Joji's house in Meerpet and arrested the five persons.