Ranchi, July 18 (IANS) Ranchi police on Friday busted an illegal online gaming and betting racket being operated out of a rented house in the Bariatu Housing Colony of the city, officials said.

The police arrested 14 youths involved in the operation.

The arrests were made following a late-night raid on Thursday, July 17, after police received a tip-off about suspicious activities in the Housing Colony.

According to DIG-cum-SSP Chandan Kumar Sinha, the arrested persons had been running the racket for over a month, conducting online gaming, betting, and gambling operations on various platforms.

“Acting on intelligence inputs, a special team was constituted to verify and act on the information. A raid was carried out, and 14 persons were apprehended at the spot. Preliminary interrogation revealed that they were involved in illegal online gaming activities under the direction of individuals based outside the state, who also visited the location occasionally,” the SSP said at a press briefing.

During the raid, police seized five laptops, 17 mobile phones, and 90 ATM cards belonging to different banks believed to be used in the betting operations.

Investigators suspect that the arrested youths were being paid a monthly salary of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000.

The police are now working to identify the kingpins and financial handlers behind the racket.

Police said all arrested persons hail from different districts of Bihar. They include Keshav Kumar and Roshan Kumar from Muzaffarpur; Sameet Kumar from Shivhar; Alok Baljeet, Dilip Kumar, Krishna Kumar, Pankaj Kumar and Vivek Kumar from Saharsa; Subodh Kumar and Arush Yadav from Supaul; and Luv Kumar, Nitish Kumar and Anjan Kumar from Purnea.

Authorities suspect that the racket may have links to a wider interstate syndicate involved in similar illegal activities.

“The investigation is ongoing. We are coordinating with cybercrime experts to track digital trails and with financial institutions to analyze transaction histories,” the SSP added.

–IANS

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