Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The Crime Branch arrested eight individuals involved in an online betting and dating scam, defrauding people through gaming apps, an official said on Saturday.
The gang operated through the website ‘Rock Exchange’ facilitating illegal online gambling in crores of rupees. It had been operating for a year, with daily transactions exceeding Rs 1 lakh. The accused collected payments from people, deposited the money in various accounts and provided them with IDs and passwords. Using these credentials, people gambled on the website.
Police recovered financial records amounting to crores of rupees, along with 29 mobile phones, 6 laptops, 13 cheque books and passbooks. Additional DCP (Crime) Rajesh Dandotiya said that they received information about 7-8 people running online gambling operations from a house in Manavta Nagar. Police raided the house and arrested Parikshit Lohar (26), Roshan Lalwani (20), Vijay Vishwakarma (22), Abhishek Yadav (26), Rajesh Kotak (19), Praful Soni (29) and Mahendra Singh (28) of Mandsaur district and Ruchit (25) of Gopalganj in Bihar.
Police seized laptops, mobile phones with ongoing gambling-related messages and calls and numerous bank documents reflecting transactions worth crores. The accused operated gambling through websites like Rock7.art, ag.rockinplay.com, admin.rockbook9.com and others. They accepted payments in multiple accounts, issued IDs with points equivalent to deposited amounts and allowed users to bet on games available 24/7. They interacted with customers via Telegram groups and provided payouts for winnings while charging commissions.
Accused manipulated algorithms to ensure losses
The accused used coding and algorithms in their online gaming platforms to drastically reduce winning probabilities. While initial wins enticed users, prolonged play led to losses. They targeted minors and young individuals, offering attractive deals and luring them into gambling with promises of quick money.
International Links
Evidence from the accused’s mobiles and laptops revealed connections to Dubai, including contact numbers of money exchange agents. Fake bank accounts across various states were used for transactions and larger sums were sent to higher-level handlers based in foreign. The police have registered a case against the accused under sections of Public Gambling Act and further investigation is underway.
