The Naini police have arrested Rahul Sao, the kingpin behind an extensive online betting and gaming racket that targeted youths across multiple states. Investigations into 14 accused individuals have revealed that Sao was running mini call centres in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and other states to lure people into online gaming scams, duping them of substantial amounts of money.
According to the police, Sao used social media advertisements to attract youths, convincing them to participate in online gaming schemes. He also set up bank accounts to siphon off the victims’ money. The gang was involved in fraudulent activities through gaming apps and websites. Sao’s operation included several call centres that were set up in Patna, Gopalganj, Maharajganj, and Asansol, where his close aides supervised the illegal operations.
One of Sao’s key associates, Manish Rao, was in charge of the call centre in Prayagraj, while Shivam Singh headed the operation in Gopalganj. Police also discovered that Sao had international connections, with help from individuals based in other countries to run these scams.
Authorities have arrested Shivam Singh, who revealed that Sao was also connected with people running a popular gaming app. Sao provided his gang members with training, mobile phones, SIM cards, and laptops to carry out the operations. The arrested gang members received commissions ranging from 1% to 10%, depending on their role and success in duping victims.
The investigation is ongoing, with police examining Sao’s full network of operations and looking into whether he was connected to larger international entities behind these fraudulent activities.