An illegal interstate horse betting racket was busted by the Special Operations Team (SOT), Malkajgiri, along with Jawahar Nagar police, leading to the arrest of four persons and the seizure of ₹2 lakh in cash. Bank accounts holding another ₹2.47 lakh were frozen, taking the total seizure to ₹4.47 lakh.
The arrested individuals were identified as Thokala Nagesh, Borra Venkaiah Chowdary, Challa Ramesh Babu and D. Sunil.
Two others, M. Rajesh Kumar of Malakpet and Venkat Chowdary of Vijayawada, are yet to be nabbed.
The main accused, Thokala Nagesh, a former software employee, got involved in horse betting while working in Chennai, said an officer from the Rachakonda Police.
“After relocating to Hyderabad in 2020 due to health and financial issues, he began operating betting activities independently. He created a WhatsApp group named ‘Shinewell Enterprises’, through which he organised illegal horse betting and added 105 members, including 20 from Hyderabad,” said the officer.
The racket lured unsuspecting punters by promising high returns. Investigators found that Nagesh’s bank accounts had recorded transactions totalling ₹8.34 crore linked to the betting activity.
A case has been registered with the Jawahar Nagar police.
Published – August 03, 2025 07:42 pm IST
