Illegal betting case: Bengaluru court grants bail to Congress MLA Veerendra

Bengaluru, Dec 30 The Special Court for MLAs/MPs in Bengaluru on Tuesday granted bail to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra aka Veerendra Pappi in connection with illegal betting case.

MLA Veerendra was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was imprisoned at the Bengaluru Central Jail for four months. Veerendra represents Challakere Assembly constituency in Chitradurga district.

MLA Veerendra was nabbed on August 23 in Gangtok, where he had gone with his associates in connection with leasing land for running a casino.

Earlier, R. D. Chaitra, wife of MLA Veerendra had filed a Writ Petition in the High Court of Karnataka, on several grounds to declare his arrest by ED, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 as illegal, arbitrary, and violative of fundamental rights.

However, the High Court had upheld the arrest of K.C. Veerendra by ED, and dismissed the Writ Petition.

The ED sleuths had recovered Rs 21 crore in cash and a large quantity of other valuables from Veerendra's residence in Karnataka.

The ED stated, "The arrest of MLA Veerendra follows raids at 31 locations on August 22, 23 in 2025 at 31 locations across India including Gangtok, Chitradurga, Bengaluru city, Hubballi, Jodhpur, Mumbai and Goa. The accused MLA Veerendra is running several online betting sites in the name of king567, Raja567, among others."

The ED had stated that, accused MLA's brother K.C. Thippeswamy is operating three business entities from Dubai.

The investigation into the illegal betting scam by the ED has revealed that Karnataka Congress MLA K. C. Veerendra and his associates collected over Rs 2,000 crore through a single gateway from websites in a short span. The ED had uncovered Rs 2,000 crore transactions and seized hundreds of crores worth gold bars and cash from his residence and offices so far across the country.

The Karnataka BJP had alleged that accused Congress MLA Veerendra had sent more than Rs 300 crore funding for the upcoming Bihar elections.

The Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka had stated, "MLA Veerendra had sent gold bars and more than Rs 300 crore for Bihar elections. Karnataka has become ATM for the Congress. They calculate how much money each MLA gives and allocate positions accordingly."

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