Online cricket betting scam busted in Nagpur, 42 bank accounts frozen
Nagpur: The Nagpur City Cyber Police have uncovered a well-organised interstate online betting fraud racket that duped unsuspecting victims of lakhs of rupees by luring them with promises of becoming “crorepatis” through cricket betting.
Acting swiftly on a complaint filed by a grocery trader, police have frozen as many as 42 bank accounts suspected to have been used for siphoning off the fraud money. Raids have been conducted in Pune and Mumbai, but the main masterminds behind the operation are still on the run.
According to investigators, the complainant, identified as Hiten, was systematically targeted by cyber fraudsters between February 6 and March 25, 2026. The victim reportedly received persistent WhatsApp messages promising massive profits and claiming he could turn into a “crorepati” through cricket betting.
The fraudsters allegedly trapped him through a fake online betting platform, khelegaindia777.com, where he created an account using the ID “K7hiran54”. The accused projected their application, “Welcome to Khelega India,” as a legitimate betting platform to gain his trust.
To initiate the trap, the victim was first asked to deposit Rs 500 into a bank account named “UniqueGarment.” Once he complied, the fraudsters gradually persuaded him to transfer larger sums into multiple bank accounts under different names to place bets on cricket matches.
Police said the accused used 42 different bank accounts registered under names such as Shivam Agarwal, Rohit Kumar, Ajit Kumar, Hirdesh, Satyabhan Singh, Kishan Singh, Manish Kumar, Arya Traders, JK Traders, and Gurmel Singh to route the fraud money.
These accounts were reportedly linked to several banks including IndusInd Bank, IDFC First Bank, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and RBL Bank.
Investigators suspect that the account holders belong to different states including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, indicating the interstate nature of the racket.
To keep the victim hooked, the fraudsters allegedly manipulated the betting platform to display fake winning results, creating the illusion that the victim was earning money. However, when Hiten attempted to withdraw his winnings, the accused neither credited the amount nor responded to his requests. Instead, they reportedly abused him and blocked all communication.
Following the complaint, Cyber Police swiftly froze all 42 suspect bank accounts, preventing further diversion of funds.
During the probe, investigators discovered that the racket operated through several Telegram handles, including @khelegaindia, @Lionbookbot, @Khelegaindiabot, and @Loutsexchatbot, which were used to communicate with victims and run the betting operation.
Police Inspector Ghare constituted a special investigation team led by Assistant Police Inspector Rane, which has been conducting continuous raids in Pune and Mumbai for the past week to track down the culprits.
Officials now suspect that the betting racket could be part of a larger organised cybercrime network, possibly linked to illegal hawala transactions and money laundering operations.
A massive manhunt has been launched to trace the main masterminds and their associates as investigators attempt to unravel the full extent of the interstate fraud network.
Further investigation is underway.
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