Following the uncovering of the Rs 58 crore illegal online gambling app scam in Nagpur, the police have started investigation on 18 other similar apps as a part of crackdown on bookie Anant Jain alias Sontu Gondia. The police believe he was the local coordinator of Mahadev Book, an illegal betting app which has many of its operators in the Nagpur-Chhattisgarh region.

Senior police officials believe that the total amount of fraud by Jain could easily surpass Rs 500 crore. The raid at his residence has revealed that Jain owned 12 properties in Dubai, Agra and Kolkata.

The police have frozen 14 bank accounts and four lockers used by Jain. He also used hawala and angariya to conduct his illegal transactions. So far, the police have seized Rs 17 crore in cash along with 14 kg of gold and 200 kg of silver from his house.

As reported earlier, Jain was able to successfully lure in a Nagpur-based businessman to bet money in order to get huge amounts of returns. The victim had bet Rs 77 crore, winning Rs 19 crore. The police stated that app was rigged to dupe users.

Meanwhile, Jain took off to Dubai on a one-month tourist visa on July 21. City police chief Amitesh Kumar revealed that they are trying to either bring him back or arrest him as soon as he returns to India. The police also revealed that Jain was the local agent for illegal bettings apps Mahadev Book and Diamond Exchange.

Mahadev Book is one of the biggest illegal betting networks which has its servers in Dubai. In the last few months the Chhattisgarh police have been cracking down on its agents rigorously. Its mastermind, Saurabh Chandrakar, also resides in Dubai.

Meanwhile, it is being reported that Jain began as a minor cricket bookie, but became a prominent operator in the last couple of years. He also arranged gambling tours to overseas casino destinations, receiving a commission on visitor numbers in return.

According to the police the recent police action against Jain has made all the Nagpur bookies go undercover.