Congress MLA KC Veerendra Puppy
DH File Photo
Bengaluru: A Bengaluru court on Tuesday granted bail to Congress MLA KC Veerendra Puppy in connection with a case involving illegal online and offline betting.
Puppy was in judicial custody after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier this year. He was also interrogated by the ED before being remanded to judicial custody.
It is yet to be clear the conditions levied by the court while granting bail and an order is awaited.
On August 23, ED investigators arrested Puppy, the legislator from Chitradurga, in Gangtok, Sikkim.
The arrest followed ED’s large-scale raids the previous day at 31 locations in different parts of India, including Gangtok, Chitradurga District, Bangalore City, Hubballi, Jodhpur and Mumbai, linked to Puppy and his associates.
In Goa, the raids focused on Puppy’s Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Puppy’s Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino and Big Daddy Casino.
ED had recovered Rs 12 crore in cash, including Rs one crore in foreign currency: bundles of 100 US Dollars, 10 and 20 British pounds, 500 Dirhams and 100 and 50 Euro currency notes. ED has claimed that searches indicated a complex layering of cash and other funds.
“Search has revealed that the accused is running several online betting sites in the name of King567, Raja567, etc. Further, KC Thippeswamy, the brother of the accused, is operating three business entities from Dubai, viz, Diamond Softech, TRS Technologies, and Prime9Technologies, related to the call centre services and gaming business of KC Veerendra Puppy,” the ED had said in an official statement following the MLA’s arrest.
ED investigators also recovered gold jewellery worth Rs six crore, silver articles weighing approximately 10 kg. Four vehicles were also impounded under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
“Further, 17 bank accounts and two bank lockers were also frozen. Many properties related documents were also seized from the premises of the brother, KC Nagaraj and his son, Pruthvi N Raj. Several incriminating documents were also seized from several premises. His other associates, namely brother KC Thippeswamy and Pruthvi N Raj, are handling operations of online gaming from Dubai. Further, it was revealed that KC Veerendra, along with his associates, had travelled to Gangtok via Bagdogra on a business visit to lease a land casino,” the ED said.