HYDERABAD: The celebrated casino operator Chikoti Praveen Kumar, who has fallen from grace with the ED raiding his residence on his suspected Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, (FEMA) violations, is a man difficult to decode.
He is an animal lover and at the same time a big player in running “illegal rackets”, though both the characteristics mix the way water blends with oil.
He has, at his farmhouse in Rangareddy district, a mini-zoo where there are rare and exotic animals. There too, he does not seem to have violated any norms, though one would be left with a feeling that he had.
The forest department officials have not yet come up with any charges against him, except vague observations that he had detained animals in enclosures.
Billed as a slick operator when it comes to pulling off financial transactions in the nether world, Praveen Kumar “covers up” deftly his tracks and, on top of it, is reported to be very good at leading the law enforcement authorities up the garden path.
In fact, when the lid blew off the high-stakes racket, which he allegedly operated with the help of his accomplice Madhava Reddy in violation of the FEMA, he appeared confident that the law cannot touch him.
He is reported to have said that he did not do anything illegal and therefore, the long arm of the law cannot reach him.
The spotlight came on Praveen Kumar when ED officials raided his residence and that of his comrade-in-arms Madhava Reddy on the suspicion of the movement of huge loads of currency across the country’s borders through the hawala route.
The ED officials have now served notices on the suspects to depose before them on Monday to explain the lurid details of the way the entire racket operated.
Praveen Kumar’s name was heard in 2017 for the first time after a case was registered against him by the West Zone Task Force under Gambling Act but nothing was heard afterward on the progress of the case.
Brief foray into films
Very ambitious to make it big in life, he did not show much interest in his grandfather’s and father’s ceramic tiles business. He strayed into Tollywood in search of big bucks.
He produced a movie, but he burnt his fingers as beginners always do. Later he went on a visit to the Eastern Ghats to be at one with nature and reboot himself.
He seemed to have realised that he was not cut out to be a film producer. He quickly entered the cricket betting business where he struck gold. He made tonnes of money which gave him the necessary entree into the core of the film industry.
Close ties with politicos
He maintained close relations with politicos and hotshots of Bollywood and Tollywood. His recent birthday bash was attended by a Telangana minister, among others.
The skeletons that dropped out of his closet, when the ED sleuths raided his house, had suggested that he had made payoffs in crores to the Bollywood celebrities for promoting his casino events.
Those who gave buoyancy to his casino operations are said to be Mallika Sherawat, Amisha Patel et al.
Praveen’s love for animals is another facet of his personality which makes it difficult to read him.
His father is reported to have tried to domesticate a wild bear which amused Praveen when he was a young boy. As he grew, his fondness for animals increased.
The farmhouse he has at Kandukuru village in Ragna Reddy is in an area of 16 acres where there are about 20 animal species brought from abroad.
He hired trainers from Rajasthan to take care of them. He had been feeding his animals, pricey foods and for parrots which he loved most, their food comprise cashew nuts and almonds.
LIBERAL DONOR
Another inscrutable aspect of his personality is his penchant to donate liberally to temples and help those who are in distress. As he is always ready to go out to help others, he quicky developed a fan base. He is understood to have purchased a ratham from Thbajavuru.
As he grew popular, he became the inevitable guest at festivites like Bonalu and Vinayaka Chaturthi.
His Instagram page has 15,000 followers among whom, interestingly, is Singer Rahul Sipligunj