The police in Nagpur, Maharashtra, investigated an online gaming fraud case and carried out searches at six different locations in Gondia district. During these searches, they discovered 2.4 kilograms of gold and Rs 70 lakh at one of these locations, which was owned by a doctor.
A similar operation is also being conducted at the residence of a bank employee in neighbouring Bhandara district, but nothing has been seized from there so far, he said. Addressing a press conference, Nagpur Commissioner of Police (CP) Amitesh Kumar said the raids at these seven locations six in Gondia and one in Bhandara are part of an investigation into an online gaming fraud worth Rs 58 crore.
The incident occurred just days after Anant alias Sontu Navratan Jain, a native of Gondia who was charged with defrauding a businessman from Nagpur out of Rs 58 crore in an online gaming scheme, turned himself in after almost three months on the run. The website for online gaming was made by Jain.
The police raided six premises in Gondia and seized 2.4 kilograms of gold and Rs 70 lakh cash from the house of one Dr Gaurav Bagga. The remaining five properties belong to some other persons, the police commissioner said. The operation in Bhandara is being conducted at the residence of a bank employee, and nothing has been seized from that place till now, he said.
Following the recovery of the valuables during the operation on Friday, a fresh case was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) at the Gittikhadan police station in Nagpur, he said.
The investigation into the case was initiated after Nagpur-based businessman Vikrant Agrawal filed a complaint in July this year, alleging that he had been defrauded of Rs 58 crore by an online gaming platform. The complainant claimed the gaming results had been manipulated, which led to substantial financial losses to him.
After that, the police raided Jain’s residence in Gondia, where they seized cash and gold worth Rs 26.39 crore on July 22. In a follow-up operation on August 1, the police opened lockers of Jain and his family members, resulting in the recovery of cash and gold worth Rs 4.54 crore, the CP said.
Before the police could access the bank lockers belonging to his family, Jain allegedly conspired with the bank’s official Ankesh Khandelwal and Dr Gaurav Bagga and his wife, all residents of Gondia. On July 27, three bank lockers were opened in the name of Dr Bagga, and cash and gold from the Jain family’s lockers were transferred into these newly-opened lockers, he said.