Hyderabad: The police from the Commissioner’s Task Force, Central Zone, teamed up with Amberpet Police Station to crack down on an online Satta betting ring. They acted on a tip-off and raided a rented flat in Bathakammakunta, Bagh Amberpet, capturing six individuals involved in the illegal operation.
The arrested include Voddepelli Naveen (24), a carpenter, Pudari Sai Kiran (24), Soma Mahender (24), Bingi Sai Kiran (23), Bingi Avinash (30), and Sana Sai Preetham (25). The police seized Rs 79,000 from their bank accounts, along with betting collections, Satta materials, 17 mobile phones, a laptop, a car, a bike, and stamps, all worth around Rs 20 lakh.
The accused set up fake Facebook profiles using unknown phone numbers to promote their betting activities. They initially tempted victims with small profits, but as the victims invested more, they faced losses due to the betting games’ manipulative setup.
YVS Sudheendra, DCP Task Force, explained that all six, who were friends from Kagaz Nagar, learned about online betting and Satta/Matka. They rented a flat in Bagh Amberpet two months ago for Rs 14,000 a month to base their operations, using laptops and mobile phones.
They created Facebook accounts with names like Satta Matka Kalyan Result, Ashwin Nayak, Teer Shillong Counter, Arjuin Sarkar, and Vishal K. These were linked to unverified numbers to lure people who often engaged in online betting.
Victims were charged a registration fee between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 for betting number predictions. The accused also made fake promotional videos, where one acted as a winner claiming to earn big from small bets, enticing more victims to invest larger sums.
They collected money through online payments like QR code scanners, Google Pay, PhonePe, and other UPI platforms. The outcomes of the games were manipulated to ensure victims lost their money, said Sudheendra.
The arrested individuals and seized items were handed over to Amberpet Police for further investigation.
