Chikoti Praveen’s rise from petty trades to casino agent

Praveen’s name shot into limelight following a raid conducted by Enforcement Directorate on his residence on July 29, on suspicion of his involvement in hawala money transactions.

The Instagram profile of casino agent Chikoti Praveen describes him as “Animal and nature lover; love to trek in Western Ghats, part of Big Daddy Casino, Goa; luv to gamble.”

Praveen claims everything is legal with regard to his casino business and acquisition of rare wild animals. (HT Photo)

Praveen’s name shot into limelight following a raid conducted by Enforcement Directorate on his residence on July 29, on suspicion of his involvement in hawala money transactions.

Owing to his high-profile personality in political, business and celebrity circles across the country, everything is open about Praveen. The same is also evident by his pictures and videos on his Instagram about the events that he has organised in the past. He has 16,600 followers on his social media platform.

A video of Praveen’s 45th birthday celebrations held at Sama Saraswati Gardens posted on social media on July 13 shows his flamboyant life style. He can be seen in a procession in an open top jeep, surrounded by a group of bouncers in black uniform, his friends and fans bursting crackers, showering petals and felicitating him with huge garland.

A video invitation posted by him detailing about a grand pool party organised by PC (acronym for Praveen Chikoti) and his associate Madhava Reddy at June 11 and 12 at Jhapa in Nepal witnessed who’s who of the Bollywood celebrities and popular models including Amisha Patel, Meghna Naidu and Scarlett Wilson.

Three days before that, PC and SVM (acronym for Madhava Reddy) organised Casino Vegas at the same place, with celebrities like Mumaith Khan and Mallika Sherawat gracing the show. “Try your luck on high bets, teen patti, andar bahar, baccarat, roulette and other casino games,” read the invitation. The dance event on the occasion was choreographed by Ganesh Acharya.

The invite also had Praveen’s mobile number for the participants for booking tickers, accommodation and dinner.

“I don’t force or lure anybody to play casino. They attend the shows and play casino out of their own interest. Why should I stop them? And casino is completely legal in Goa in India and many other countries. What’s wrong in it? Whatever I am doing is completely legal and open,” Praveen told reporters after being questioned by the ED authorities on the first day on July 30.

In Praveen’s case, it was not exactly a rag to riches story. People in Saidabad area in old city of Hyderabad knew him as a small-time activist of a national party, 20 years ago, doing petty business like rice dealership and ceramic tiles, which he has inherited from his father in Saidabad.

“Even now, he has been living in the same old flat at Sai Kiran Residency in Vinay Nagar Colony, Saidabad, though he built another new bungalow nearby recently,” said Praveen Kumar, a local correspondent of a vernacular daily.He said Praveen got into real estate activity in 2004-05 and made big money during the real estate boom in Hyderabad 2007-08.

“He used to organise festivals like Bonalu and Ganesh Chaturthi in Saidabad area and became a sort of leader for the local youth by liberally donating money for the festivals and local events. He also constructed a small Durga in Saidabad and became popular in the area,” Kumar said.

Unconfirmed reports said Praveen had also made an attempt to enter the film industry to make a quick buck and had even produced a small-budget Telugu movie, which bombed at the box office. After that, he backed out of the movie business, but not without getting some contacts of the celebrities.

Apart from celebrities, Praveen developed good rapport with all political parties and the local leaders, who used to make beeline to his residence. “Surprisingly, nobody knows how he got involved in casino business, but it brought him into the club of the rich and elite. It is believed that he owns a complete floor on Big Daddy casino in Goa,” Kumar said, adding that his flat and house at Saidabad is regularly visited by the VIPs and politicians.

Such is the clout of Praveen that when he organised the birthday of his daughter 10 years ago in Shamshabad, he threw a lavish party for the VIPs, including top politicians, film celebrities, officials and police officials, said a Congress leader, who did not wish to be named.

Praveen has a penchant for luxury cars, but he doesn’t keep any with him for a long time. “He disposes the car after using it for a year or two and purchases another one,” Kumar said. One of his Instagram post on November 26, 2021 shows him acquiring a brand new Range Rover Autobiography car worth nearly ₹4.5 crore. “Love towards rangerover autobiography. Gt delivered yday (sic),” read the post, with Praveen posing for a picture along with his new possession. The car was seized by the ED authorities during the recent raid on his house.

As claimed by Praveen on social media, he had developed a craze for exotic and rare birds and animals. When the officials of the forest department raided his farmhouse at Saireddygudem village of Kandukur block near Kadthal in Ranga Reddy district, about 50 km from Hyderabad, they were surprised to find a sort of “mini zoo” there.

The searches were conducted following the images of Praveen posing with some rare animals like iguanas, yellow python and red viper on his Instagram. “My iguana@Ananthashayana,” read the caption of one of the pictures he posed with the animal.

During the searches, the authorities found a python, mongoose, iguanas, monitor lizards, ostrich, horses, swans, ducks, parrots, pigeons and rare varieties of big spiders, besides dogs, cows and buffaloes.

Interestingly, the forest authorities found that Praveen acquired all of them legally and with proper permissions. “Around 20 of them were imported from other countries. He has been maintaining them well and taking good care of them. We could not find anything illegal,” J Hema, deputy forest range officer of Kandukuru range said.

Praveen claims everything is legal with regard to his casino business and acquisition of rare wild animals, but the ED authorities are focussing on his alleged hawala money transactions.

According to a senior police official familiar with the development, Praveen’s name came up during the investigation by the ED into the hawala network across the country for the last one year. After gathering certain information, the ED raided his house in Saidabad and his aide Madhava Reddy’s house at Bowenpally in Hyderabad, the official said.

The police also questioned local travel agent Sampath, who is understood to have arranged the travel to Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, where Praveen organised the casinos over the last one year.

During the three-day probe, the ED questioned Praveen and his aide on the mode of payments he had made to the celebrities and the casino players. “The players are generally given tokens, which would be exchanged with money at the end of the games. The ED questioned him on how the winners got their payments – legally or through hawala mode in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA),” the official said.

The authorities questioned Praveen based on the call data obtained from his mobile phones and computer hard discs seized from him during the raids. Praveen submitted the bank statements to the ED authorities for verification, but he could not answer why there were some discrepancies in the bank statements, particularly those related to the casino party organised in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

So far, the ED authorities have not registered any case against Praveen, let alone arresting him. “But if they find any concrete evidence against him, they would initiate action against him,” the police official quoted above said.