Dabba trading, online betting racket earned over Rs 400 crore, ED tells Indore court

Indore: The Enforcement Directorate has told a special court in Indore that a sprawling syndicate running illegal “dabba trading” operations and online betting platforms raked in more than Rs 400 crore through criminal activities, exposing a sophisticated, tech-driven network operating across India and abroad.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ED said it had filed a prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the syndicate, which allegedly ran unregulated trading and betting operations in Indore, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Dubai. The complaint was submitted on Monday before the PMLA special court in Indore.

According to the agency, its investigation has pegged the proceeds of crime at Rs 404.46 crore, generated through manipulated trading platforms, illegal betting websites and unregulated white-label applications designed to bypass regulatory oversight.

The probe has also resulted in the provisional attachment of assets worth Rs 34.26 crore, including immovable properties valued at Rs 28.60 crore, movable assets worth Rs 3.83 crore and bank balances amounting to Rs 1.83 crore.

Search operations conducted as part of the investigation led to significant seizures. The ED said it recovered over Rs 5.21 crore in cash, 59.9 kg of silver bars and a 100-gram gold bar. Investigators also seized high-end luxury items, including jewellery worth about Rs 1.94 crore and luxury watches valued at Rs 4.77 crore. Cryptocurrency holdings exceeding Rs 0.41 crore have been frozen.

Describing the operation as a “technologically manipulated ecosystem”, the ED said the network relied on rigged trading platforms, illegal betting portals and cross-border money laundering mechanisms to move and conceal funds. Vishal Agnihotri has been identified as the principal operator behind the syndicate.

The agency has also named Tarun Shrivastava, Srinivasan Ramasamy, Dhaval Devraj Jain, Dharmesh Rajnikant Trivedi and Nidhi Chandnani as accused in the case, with separate charges levelled against them.

(with inputs from agencies)