Puri: Police on Tuesday arrested the mastermind behind a betting racket that had reportedly been operating in the district for the past two years.The accused, identified as Krishna Prasad Tripathy (34) of Ram Nagar in Berhampur, Ganjam district, was arrested by the Cyber police station in connection with a case registered on April 29 this year.Investigators have claimed Tripathy, known in betting circles by the name of ‘Boss’, was the kingpin of the operation and concealed his identity while running the illegal business through online platforms.According to Puri superintendent of police Prateek Singh, the accused allegedly used the ‘Skyexchange’ betting platform and had developed software tools to facilitate the betting network, which handled transactions worth crores of rupees.“During the investigation, it emerged that a kingpin was operating behind the scenes under a code name. With the help of cyber experts, we traced the identity of the accused and arrested him from Berhampur,” Singh said.During a search of Tripathy’s residence, police seized Rs 10.25 lakh in cash, two mobile phones and froze Rs 8.76 lakh in his bank accounts. Authorities are also examining his financial records, bank accounts, ATM transactions and other assets, including a hotel named ‘Namaste’ in Berhampur.The arrest stems from a raid conducted near Masanichandi Temple in Puri on April 29 after police received information about IPL betting activities.Four persons — Prasanna Prusty, B Nageswara Rao, Biswajit Lenka and Ramakanta Sahu — were arrested while allegedly betting through the Skyexchange platform. Several others managed to flee during the operation.At the time, police seized Rs 25.35 lakh in cash and six mobile phones from the accused and froze Rs 31.81 lakh from various bank accounts linked to the betting operation.Investigators believe the syndicate had been conducting illegal betting activities in Puri and nearby areas for nearly two years.With the latest seizure, the total cash recovered in the case has risen to Rs 35.60 lakh, while the total amount frozen in bank accounts stands at Rs 40.97 lakh. Eight mobile phones have also been seized during the course of the investigation.
