Congress MLA arrested in ED's online betting probe
What's the story
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Congress MLA KC Veerendra from Karnataka in connection with its probe into illegal online and offline betting. The arrest comes days after the government introduced a bill to ban online gaming. The ED conducted extensive searches at 31 locations across India on Friday and Saturday, seizing around ₹12 crore in cash, including ₹1 crore in foreign currency.
Seized assets
Luxury vehicles, property documents recovered
The ED's raid also led to the recovery of gold jewelry worth around ₹6 crore, 10kg of silver articles, and four luxury vehicles. The agency has also frozen 17 bank accounts and two lockers. Several property documents were recovered from the premises of Veerendra's brother, KC Nagaraj, and his son, Pruthvi N Raj, during these searches.
Betting operations
Veerendra running several betting platforms
The ED has alleged that Veerendra was running several betting platforms under names like King567 and Raja567. His brother KC Thippeswamy was found to be operating three Dubai-based firms: Diamond Softech, TRS Technologies, and Prime9 Technologies, which are reportedly linked to call center and gaming operations connected to the betting network.
Investigation scope
Probe covers major casinos across India
The ED's investigation has covered several cities, including Gangtok, Chitradurga district, Bengaluru, Hubli, Jodhpur, Mumbai, and Goa. It also included five major casinos: Puppy's Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Puppy's Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino, and Big Daddy Casino. The probe revealed that Veerendra and his associates recently visited Gangtok via Bagdogra to look for land to lease for a casino.
Financial concealment
'Complex layering' of funds to hide illicit proceeds
ED officials have said that documents and digital evidence point to a "complex layering" of funds to hide illicit proceeds. After recovering incriminating material, the ED arrested Veerendra in Gangtok on August 23, 2025. He was produced before a Judicial Magistrate in Sikkim and was granted transit remand to be produced before the jurisdictional court in Bengaluru.