Himachal: Six booked for operating illegal online gaming platform in Kangra

According to police, they received a tip-off on October 22 that five to six people were operating the platform from the second floor of a house

Kangra police have registered a case against six people for allegedly operating an online gaming platform, using multiple bank accounts to collect money from users, officials said on Friday.

Police seized 41 mobile phones and seven laptops during a search at a house in Birta on Thursday (HT File)

Police seized 41 mobile phones and seven laptops during a search at a house in Birta on Thursday. According to police, they received a tip-off on October 22 that five to six people were operating the platform from the second floor of a house. They allegedly collected UPI IDs and QR codes linked to several bank accounts from different parts of the country to receive money from users.

The informer also told police that the accounts were being used as mule accounts, with a substantial amount of money suspected to have been deposited in them.

Acting on the information, a team from Kangra police station searched the premises in the presence of witnesses and found six people there. They were identified as Lavlesh,25, and Sagar Chaudhary, 27, both residents of Kangra district; Aryan,20, a resident of Nagrota Bagwan in Kangra; and Manoj Kumar Mehta,28, Pankaj Pandit,31, and Vivek Kumar,27, all from Bihar.

During the search, police recovered 41 mobile phones and seven laptops. The people present at the premises, who were tenants, could not provide a satisfactory explanation for possessing the devices, following which the equipment was seized in accordance with the law.

A case has been registered at Kangra police station under Sections 317(2) (retaining stolen property), 317(5) (voluntarily assisting in removal of stolen property) and 318 (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Police said the investigation was underway and the seized devices were being examined. Investigators are gathering details about the platform’s operations, the bank accounts, UPI IDs, QR codes and suspected financial transactions.