Nagpur: The Nagpur Police may take action under Money Laundering Act after completion of investigation against fugitive accused Anant Jain alias Sontu Gondia in connection with cheating a businessman of Rs 58.42 crore by creating a fake online gaming app. Police seized Rs 16.90 crore cash from accused Anant Jain’s house.
According to the media reports, on Monday, the cash was deposited in the bank account of the police department at the SBI main branch office on Nagpur Railway Station Road.
He is said to be in the top five in Vidarbha in the betting business. Jain is said to have created his own online app. Jain has Dubai connections and from there he launched the online gaming app in Gondia.
With an aim to bring the elusive online gaming fraudster Ananth alias Sontu Navratan Jain to Nagpur, the City Police, in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, have intensified their efforts to secure his arrest. A staggering Rs 17 crore in cash, 14 kg of gold and 294 kg of silver collectively worth Rs 27 crore were seized from Sontu’s house in Gondia on Saturday. He was accused in a Rs 58 crore online gaming fraud case.
Reports claimed that the Nagpur police are conducting relentless efforts to apprehend Sontu and hold him accountable for his alleged crimes. Sontu, after defrauding a rice trader, managed to evade the police’s grasp by fleeing to Dubai on a tourist visa for a month. Following this discovery, the police swiftly issued a look-out circular, leaving no stone unturned in their pursuit of the fugitive. The gravity of the case prompted the City Police to seek assistance from the Ministry of Home Affairs, leading to contact with the Ministry of External Affairs for Sontu’s extradition from Dubai.
Reports said that Sontu’s days of evading arrest are short, and he is expected to be extradited from Dubai soon. The investigation has unveiled another twist. It has come to light that Sontu had borrowed a huge sum of money from thirteen of his acquaintances, some of whom were close friends. The police are now probing the reason behind these financial transactions, investigating whether the loans were genuine or not.
Furthermore, the police are recording statements from seven of Sontu’s relatives to ascertain any possible leads in tracking him down. So far, the city based rice trader is the sole complainant, but police are appealing to victims to come forward and lodge complaints against Sontu. The seized cash was deposited in the bank on Monday while the gold was to be sent to an auditor to check its genuineness. The police are trying hard to track the servers of Sontu’s online application called ‘Diamond Exchange dot com.’
Sontu, who owns properties across India and also in Dubai, has also allegedly invested in benami properties at many places. Names of his family members in monetary and property transactions have been unearthed by police during investigation.
Though senior officials are tight-lipped about the involvement of Sontu’s family, it’s learnt the cops will go after them if the bookie-turned-gambling app master of Diamondexchange@com remained underground in Dubai for long.
According to a report, the Nagpur Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar on Monday claimed Anant Jain alias Sontu Gondia would be soon brought back from Dubai, where he has been sheltering since July 21. It’s learnt city police are coordinating with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and also Civil Aviation Ministry to bring Sontu back as soon as possible.
City police have registered an offence of fraud against Sontu for duping a businessman of Rs 58 crore by manipulating online gaming and gambling app. City police, which have seized cash Rs 17 crore, 16kg gold and around 300kg silver from the Gondia residence of Sontu, have also recorded statements of his family members.
