Ahmedabad: Three men were booked for gambling on Sunday after one of them — accused in a Rs 7.25 crore sextortion racket — confessed to blowing the cash on casinos and betting apps.
The case came to light when a businessman from Vadaj approached the city crime branch on Sep 21, accusing Ankit Patel, also a resident of Vadaj, and his accomplices — Girish Pehlani, a resident of Kubernagar, and a woman — of extorting money from him for the past two years.
The businessman told police that Patel and Pehlani got the woman, who was also known to him, to lure him into a honey trap. The businessman’s complaint stated that the duo used the chat messages between him and the woman to extort Rs 7.25 crore from him.
Acting on the complaint, the crime branch booked Patel, Pahelani and the woman for extortion and abetment.
During Pahelani’s questioning, he allegedly confessed before the crime branch officers that he had lost Rs 6 crore by gambling on three different websites and through betting apps. He also allegedly admitted to spending Rs 18 lakh in a casino in Goa, Rs 10 lakh renovating his house, Rs 20 lakh on jewellery and Rs 6 lakh as a down payment for a new car.
Pahelani further confessed that he got the IDs for gambling and betting from Manish Arora and Pravin Pandey from Sardarnagar, said the police.
Based on his confession, the city crime branch registered a second FIR under the Prevention of Gambling Act on Sunday and began an investigation.