Over 80 tourists from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, who were arrested at Pattaya by the Thailand Police on charges of gambling at a star hotel, were deported to India on Wednesday after their visas were cancelled by the authorities.
Following a tip off from unknown sources in Goa, the Thailand Police unearthed the massive gambling racket, leading to the arrest of 93 people, of which about 80 were Indians, including Chikoti Praveen, a high profile casino organiser from Hyderabad who was earlier booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He along with some others arrived in Goa after they were sent back.
Sources said that Chikoti Praveen, who is believed to be the kingpin of the racket, allegedly organised the party on April 27. Following the tip off, police raided the place, detained the invitees and produced them before the magistrate before deporting them back to India. The gaming was live streamed for financiers who funded the event from India. The chairman of a District Cooperative Central Bank and a temporary Village Revenue Assistant were also alleged to have been arrested in the raid.
Meanwhile, Chikoti Praveen denied organising the event and said that he was invited to the place. “If I was blacklisted, how am I in Goa already? I was invited to the place by Sitranan Kaewlor and Dev, who organised the poker tournament for people across the world. I did ask them for permission and they also produced a copy of it. I got so many tie ups with casinos across the world and my event would have been a much bigger one. I agree that I organised the games in Nepal and other countries and it was all done legally. The organisers have also confessed that I was not involved. I would have been let go the same day by the courts being closed on May day, I left the next day by paying 2,000 Bahts as penalty. If I had organised it, it would not have been easy for me to leave Thailand,” he said.
The raid, carried out on Sunday night by the Thai police resulted in seizure 25 sets sets of cards, ₹20.92 crore worth gambling chips, four baccarat tables, three blackjack tables, ₹1.60 lakh, eight CCTV cameras, 92 mobile phones, and three computers. Apart from this, the officials also found a logbook, which had gambling credits records showing about ₹10 lakh worth of credits in circulation.
The arrested persons were released on furnishing bonds of Thai Baht 4,500 (₹10,900 each), their visas were cancelled and blacklisted from entry into Thailand for a specific period, sources said.
