Thailand police have arrested casino organizer Chikoti Praveen from Telangana along with Madhav Reddy and Chairman of Medak DCCB Bank Chitti Devender Reddy in a gambling bust in Pattaya. The police task force have arrested more than 80 Indian gamblers during the raid late last night.

According to reports, the entire gambling group was planning to leave for India on Monday morning, but the police raided the hotel they were staying at and arrested all the individuals, as reported by Andhrajyothy. Praveen is known for bringing people from India to other countries for gambling.

During the raid, the police seized crores of Indian rupees in cash along with gambling chips worth about Rs 21 crore, 92 mobile phones and three notebooks to keep records. A total of Rs 100 crore of assets were seized by the police according to AP 7AM.

Most of the arrested individuals are Indian nationals. In total, 83 people from India, six from Thailand and eight from Myanmar were present and arrested during the raid. As per reports, Praveen is being interrogated by the Thai police and if found guilty, can face severe consequences.

Meanwhile, a number of cases have been filed against Praveen by the law enforcement agencies in India regarding alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations, money laundering and tax evasion.

Most recently, Praveen was served a show-cause notice by the Benami Prohibition Unit of the Income Tax Department regarding a Range Rover vehicle costing around Rs 2.85 crore. The vehicle was registered under an unrelated company’s name with Praveen as its “beneficial owner”.

In his defence, Praveen stated that the vehicle belongs to the owner of the company, who is his close friend, and he was just using it.