Enforcement Directorate cracks down on Nepal casino dealers in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday cracked down on agents organising high stakes gambling trips to casinos in Nepal. The men have been accused of violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
ED conducted searches at eight locations on agents like Praveen Kumar Chikoti, Madhav Reddy and others. Officials said they had unearthed several hawala transactions from laptops of the accused. Mobile phones too were seized during the searches. Searches were conducted at Chikoti's farmhouse in Kadthal, his house at Saidabad and Madhav Reddy's residence at Bowenpally among other places.
The ED took up investigation into city's casino dealers and hawala operators after TOI reported on May 24 on the casino racket involving hawala transactions.
Sources told TOI that although gambling is legal in Nepal, the financial transactions made by the punters and the agents are illegal. The casino dealers organised special flights from Shamshabad airport to Bagdogra airport and took punters to 'Casino Vegas by Big Daddy' at Hotel Mechi Crown in Jhapa in Nepal more than a month ago (June 10 to 13). The hotel is located near Siliguri on Indo-Nepal border, 25 km from Bagdogra airport.
For the four-day package, each gambler had to pay Rs 3 lakh towards flight charges, food, hotel stay, drinks and entertainment.
'Great gambler' PC known for his flamboyance, connections
HYDERABAD: Popularly known as 'PC' in gambling circles, agent Praveen Kumar Chikoti often displays his flamboyant lifestyle on social media handles. On his Instagram profile, he claims himself as part of Big Daddy casino in Goa and how he loves gambling.
The videos he posted on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram reveal that his recent birthday celebrations were attended by several Bollywood and Tollywood stars who are seen in casino events in Nepal. Praveen Chikoti and his followers took out a huge procession during his recent birthday celebrations where he was garlanded using a crane and singer Rahul Sipligunj's numbers were played.
He filmed taking his favourite pet python for a drive on his Range Rover car and posted it on his Instagram account while sipping hookah.
Praveen Chikoti faced a criminal case earlier. In October 20, 2017, Hyderabad Task Force sleuths conducted searches at a star hotel and arrested 40 persons. Among the arrested were Praveen Chikoti, Babulal Agarwal and three others for organising gaming with punters. Apart from Rs 23 lakh cash, a card swiping machine and hookah stands were recovered then.
Interestingly, in some of the videos, Praveen Chikoti is seen with rowdy-sheeters. Investigations have found that Praveen Chikoti was also involved in Gudivada gambling during Sankranti celebrations. "I haven't organised any casino gambling. Cockfights are traditional like jallikattu. Everywhere, they happen in Andhra during Sankranti. There are no sleaze dances," he said then.