India police arrest notorious online gambling ringleader

Police in India have arrested a notorious online gambling boss whose operations reportedly generated turnover of $31m per year.

On Wednesday, police arrested Ramesh Chaurasia, the founder and boss of Game King Private Limited, which controls gaming parlors throughout the country that ostensibly offer non-gambling games via computer terminals, but which actually offer real-money gambling services. Chaurasia (the glum fellow pictured in white) also controls a network of computers set up in other, nondescript retail businesses across seven Indian states.

Acting on a tip, police in Indore, the largest city in Madhya Pradesh state, raided a business bearing the innocuous name of Mahinder Tour and Travel and Cyber Café, where they discovered six computers set up to allow players to gamble on roulette and other casino games. In addition to Chaurasia, police detained six other individuals, some of whom were apparently only customers.

Chaurasia’s operation was also involved in remote gambling, and once customers had registered in person, they could then gamble from anywhere via their mobile phone or desktop computers. Collection of debts and payment of winnings was handled in person through agents, like a traditional credit betting operation.