Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 13 (ANI): The Visakhapatnam police in Andhra Pradesh arrested 24 people involved in an international online betting syndicate allegedly linked to transactions and public losses worth around Rs 1,500 crore, officials said.

According to Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Shankhabrat Bagchi, the gang was operating online betting activities across several Indian states as well as in Sri Lanka.

'The city police have caught one international online betting gang. 24 people have been arrested in this case. More than 500 crore has been transacted till now, which has come to our notice. We have arrested these criminals from different states in the country. The mastermind is Gabbar, who was arrested in Kolkata,' the police commissioner said.

Police said the accused were allegedly running betting operations through multiple locations.

'We have identified that they have been committing online betting in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and other states of India, as well as in Sri Lanka. On one particular day, we found that more than 2,50,000 people have participated in the online betting,' CP Bagchi said.

According to the police, the scale of the operation was extensive and involved at least seven online betting platforms. Investigators suspect that the syndicate may have earned more than Rs 1,500 crore through these activities.

The police commissioner said, 'We suspect that more than 1,500 crores have been earned by this syndicate through these online betting operations. They have used online betting platforms, at least seven in number, and the amount lost by the public is estimated to be around 1,500 crores or more.'

Police are continuing further investigation into the network, financial transactions, and links associated with the betting syndicate. (ANI)