Bengaluru, Aug 23 (IANS) Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra has been arrested in connection with an illegal betting case, the Enforcement Directorate said on Saturday. 

The arrest was made under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

According to the official statement, Veerendra was nabbed in Gangtok, Sikkim, where he had gone with his associates in connection with leasing land for running a casino.

The ED sleuths have also recovered Rs 12 crore in cash and a large quantity of other valuables from Veerendra's residence in Karnataka.

The ED said, "It was revealed that MLA Veerendra, along with his associates, had travelled to Gangtok via Bagdogra on a business visit to lease a land casino. Incriminating material seized during search proceedings indicates a complex layering of cash and other funds. To further identify the Proceeds of Crime, Veerendra was arrested from Gangtok and produced before the Judicial Magistrate, Gangtok, Sikkim and transit remand was obtained for producing him before the jurisdictional Court in Bengaluru."

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The accused is running several online betting sites in the name of King567, Raja567, among others.

Moreover, his brother K C Thippeswamy is operating three business entities from Dubai viz. Diamond Softech, TRS Technologies, Prime9Technologies.

Further, during the course of search proceedings, an amount of approximately Rs 12 Crore in cash, including approximately 1 crore in foreign currency, gold jewellery worth about Rs 6 crore, silver articles around 10 kilograms, along with four vehicles, were seized under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the ED stated.

"Further, 17 bank accounts and 2 bank lockers were also frozen. Many properties related documents were also seized from the premises of the brother of MLA Veerendra, K. C. Nagaraj and his son Pruthvi N Raj. Several incriminating documents were also seized from several premises, the ED stated.

"His other associates, namely brother K. C. Thippeswamy, and Pruthvi N Raj, are in handling operations of online gaming from Dubai," the ED stated.

(IANS/NS)

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