HYDERABAD: While the Enforcement Directorate (ED) remains tight-lipped about its raids on Chikoti Praveen, sources say that the investigation agency has found links to over 1,000 people who are not averse to spending a few lakhs on games of chance for the thrill of it. The ED had on Wednesday raided eight places in Hyderabad and one in Andhra Pradesh connected to Praveen and his aide Madhav Reddy and reportedly unearthed several instances of violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
ED sources said that the agency has found large transactions linked to Praveen, Madhava Reddy and Sampath and sent notices to the trio, seeking the records for their perusal. Some of these large transactions are believed to be related to a recent high stakes gambling party organised in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
While the sleuths remains mum on Praveen’s alleged gambling syndicate (the Hyderabad unit of the ED feigned ignorance of the matter altogether), off the record, they whispered that Praveen has, over the years, taken approximately 1,000 people to foreign countries where they wager to their heart’s content in high stakes games.
Praveen charges close to Rs 3 lakh per head for a jaunt to places like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand and Singapore where gambling is legal and gamblers welcome, they said. They said that two phones have been seized and the names on the contacts list are being verified. When Express tried to contact Joint Director of ED, Abhishek Goyal regarding the raids and the alleged involvement of some bigwigs in the gambling jaunts abroad, his clients, rumours of hawala transactions and more, the call went unanswered.
Betting big
Praveen has been very clear that he has not done anything illegal in the city, the State or in the country and all his gambling parties have been abroad.
ED sources said that while Praveen interacts and deals with the clients, Madhava Reddy and Sampath handle the financial transactions.