What began as a father’s desperate plea to save his son turned into one of the most significant busts of an illegal betting network in recent times. On June 12, Subhash Chandra, a resident of Alwar in Rajasthan, lodged a kidnapping complaint with the Kasna Police Station in Noida. He claimed his son Bhim Singh (22) and nephew Narayan (25) were abducted and a ransom of ₹7 lakh was demanded.
Police launched a swift investigation using electronic surveillance, which led them to White Orchid Apartments in Greater Noida. Though the supposed victims were not found at that location, what officers stumbled upon shocked them — a fully operational betting hub loaded with gadgets, fake Aadhaar cards, and foreign SIMs.
From Flat to Fraud: What the Cops Found
Four young men were detained at the apartment. Their belongings included laptops, over a dozen mobile phones, fake IDs, and SIM cards. On interrogation, they revealed they were part of an online betting syndicate run via the banned ‘Rudra Cric Live’ app. This app, which enabled live cricket betting, was using WhatsApp numbers to distribute unique login IDs to users.
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Following this lead, the police traced the operation to an 18th-floor flat at Radha Sky Garden, where Bhim and Narayan were found—alive and well, and not kidnapped. Along with two other men, they were running another branch of the same racket. A total of eight people, all aged between 19 and 31, have now been arrested.
The App, the Algorithm, and the Money Trail
Investigations revealed that the Rudra Cric Live app was more than a digital betting platform. It employed a psychological strategy: users were initially allowed to win, which lured them into placing larger bets, only to face inevitable losses later.
Each day, nearly ₹30 lakh was being funneled through a vast financial web to handlers based in Thailand and Dubai. The gang promoted their app through social media influencers to bypass India’s ban. These influencers are now under police radar and may soon be summoned.
According to SHO Dharmendra Shukla, at least 20 branches of this syndicate were operating across Delhi-NCR. Three have been dismantled, but a wider crackdown is underway.
A Fake Kidnap, A Real Crime
DCP Saad Miya Khan confirmed the entire kidnapping was a staged act. Bhim and Narayan had allegedly lost around ₹10 lakh belonging to the syndicate. To recoup the losses, they faked their own abduction to extort money from their families under the guise of a ransom.
Their relatives in Rajasthan, unaware of the ruse, even paid part of the ransom before involving the police. The plan backfired when authorities uncovered the fraudulent network and exposed the two as culprits, not victims. The case has lifted the lid on the scale and reach of underground betting apps in India, particularly how they manipulate users and launder money across borders. Authorities are now examining digital records and bank accounts of the accused to track the full scope of this criminal enterprise.