During the raids, the officials found Rs 12 crore cash, including Rs 1 crore in foreign currency.
- Karnataka Congress MLA K C Veerendra Puppy was arrested in Sikkim over illegal betting allegations
- Enforcement Directorate conducted raids across five states including Goa, Karnataka, and Maharashtra
- Investigators seized Rs 12 crore cash, gold and silver jewellery, luxury vehicles, and casino memberships
Karnataka Congress MLA K C Veerendra 'Puppy' was arrested from Sikkim in an alleged illegal betting racket after the Enforcement Directorate carried out a two-day search operation across India on Saturday. The investigation revealed a huge illegal betting network, including links to international casinos and gaming operations in Dubai.
The raids were carried out in many states, including Sikkim, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Goa, on August 22 and 23. The probe agency officials targeted five casinos in Goa - Puppy's Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Puppy's Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino and Big Daddy Casino.
According to the probe agency, the Congress MLA was running multiple betting websites such as 'King567' and 'Raja567', while his brother K C Thippeswamy operated three Dubai-based entities linked to call centre services and gaming operations. Investigators also recovered multiple international casino membership cards from MGM, Bellagio, Metropolitan, Marina and Casino Jewel, along with luxury hotel memberships of Taj, Hyatt and The Leela, and several high-value credit and debit cards.
During the raids, the officials found Rs 12 crore cash, including Rs 1 crore in foreign currency.
They also recovered gold jewellery worth Rs 6 crore and around 10 kg of silver jewellery.
Three luxury vehicles were also found with the same VIP number: 0003
According to the probe agency sources, incriminating materials pointed to "complex layering" of cash and funds, along with evidence of attempts to lease a land-based casino in Gangtok. The agency also froze 17 bank accounts, two lockers, and seized property documents linked to Veerendra's brother K C Nagaraj, and nephew Pruthvi N Raj.
The 50-year-old Congress MLA was produced before a magistrate court, which granted transit remand for his production in a Bengaluru court.
