Operators of illegal betting apps moving from Dubai to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka beckon the shadowy betting rings. As Dubai turns too hot for comfort amid the glare of investigation on the online gambling empire Mahadev, some of the other faceless operators of illegal betting apps are moving to Sri Lanka.
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Some of the offshore call centres and offices which are the backbone for these apps — manned by people who interact with the agents in India, maintain the servers, reconcile accounts and run the books — are being set up in Lanka.
An army of staff, attending the multiple websites floated by a betting syndicate, largely cut off from the outside world, is huddled together in villas to quietly run the show.
«Lanka is struggling to overcome its economic crisis. Such bungalows are available in and around Colombo at just a fraction of what it would cost in Dubai. More importantly, after the arrests linked to Mahadev, and the Dubai CID (criminal investigation department handling complex crimes) turning active, the syndicates are feeling the heat in UAE, at least for now,» the source told ET.
UAE's stronger ties with India and the recent promptness in sharing of information have unnerved the players who have sensed the change in milieu.
The shift to Sri Lanka, by other illegal apps similar to Mahadev, began about four to five months ago. «Some of them are linked to Mahadev, and are using the platforms under a different name — having entered into a kind of white-labelling arrangement with
