Digital Desk, Indore. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unearthed a large network of illegal Dabba trading and online betting and named former Congress working city president and former councilor Vishal alias Golu Agnihotri as its main kingpin. In the charge sheet presented in the Special Court (PMLA) on Monday, the ED claimed that this entire betting network was spread across many states of the country as well as Dubai and through this, cross-border money laundering was done on a large scale.
The ED's preliminary investigation was initiated in 2021 following an FIR related to illegal betting registered in Mumbai. After this, in 2024, ED raided Agnihotri's premises. The scope of investigation continued to increase and by 2025, action was taken in several cities including Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai. According to the investigating agency, the network wires have been found to be directly connected to Dubai.
Illegal earnings of more than Rs 404 crore
In the charge sheet, ED has revealed that a total of illegal earnings of Rs 404.46 crore were made through illegal commodity exchanges, online platforms and fake websites. In this case, Golu Agnihotri along with Tarun Srivastava and Srinivas Ramasamy have been described as his close associates. Tarun Srivastava used to handle the transactions, while Srinivas Ramasamy used to make technical manipulations in the servers for fake trading.
Apart from this, Dhaval Devraj Jain, Dharmesh Rajnikant Trivedi and Nidhi Chandnani have also been accused as being part of this betting syndicate.
Also read- REEL obsession took away their lives, two teenagers died tragically after being hit by a train in Dewas
Illegal platforms and cash transactions
According to the ED, the accused were running illegal online trading and betting platforms like We Money, LotusBook247, 8StockHite and 11Star. Most of the betting business was done in cash, while the money was moved around through fake bank accounts. Investigation also revealed that a fake company named 'Bull Capital' and accused Nidhi Chandnani played an important role in channelizing this black money through Dubai.
Also read- Cyber thugs are emboldened in Indore: Policemen's mobile hacked, network spread through APK file; ₹58 thousand stolen from SI's account
Property attached, cash and precious metals seized
After finding evidence of money laundering, ED has also taken action to attach the properties of the accused. However, according to the ED, so far only about 10 percent of the total illegal earnings have been attached. The agency has attached total assets worth Rs 34.26 crore, including immovable properties worth Rs 28.60 crore, movable properties worth Rs 3.83 crore and deposits in bank accounts worth Rs 1.83 crore.
Apart from this, Rs 5.21 crore in cash, 59.9 kg of silver ingots, 100 grams of gold biscuits, precious watches and cryptocurrency worth about Rs 41 lakh were also seized from different locations during the raid.