The Enforcement Directorate’s crackdown on unlawful betting apps has widened its web, pulling in a few of India’s largest names from each cricket and Bollywood. Actor Sonu Sood together with cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, are the newest celebrities summoned for questioning over their alleged hyperlinks to betting large 1xBet and different comparable platforms.
Sonu Sood, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa underneath ED scanner in unlawful betting app probe
In line with ED sources, Uthappa is scheduled to seem on Monday, Yuvraj Singh on Tuesday, and Sonu Sood on Wednesday. They be part of an ever-expanding record of public figures, together with former cricketers Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, and Harbhajan Singh, in addition to actors Urvashi Rautela, Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Lakshmi Manchu, and Trinamool MP Mimi Chakraborty.
On the centre of this controversy is 1xBet, an offshore platform banned by the Indian authorities in 2023 for flouting playing legal guidelines. Whereas the corporate and its avatars — usually rebranded as 1xBat or comparable names — claimed to run “skill-based gaming,” investigations have discovered rigged algorithms that ensured gamers misplaced extra usually than they received, making it playing underneath Indian regulation.
Regardless of the ban, 1xBet maintained a powerful presence in India, because of aggressive advertising campaigns that includes high-profile celebrities. Sources reveal over Rs. 50 crore was spent on promoting by way of media shops and social media platforms. The app additionally regularly switched names to dodge shutdowns, whereas operators primarily based abroad took benefit of lax playing legal guidelines in different nations.
For celebrities, the ED’s key query is easy: Did they knowingly endorse an unlawful enterprise? The company is probing whether or not actors and sportspersons had been conscious that such apps had been banned, and whether or not they disclosed revenue earned from promotional offers. Former cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, as an example, was grilled for over eight hours in Delhi final week.
The investigation isn’t restricted to celebrities. Tech giants Google and Meta have additionally come underneath scrutiny for internet hosting and selling advertisements of betting apps on their platforms. ED officers recorded the assertion of a Google consultant in July, whereas Meta has reportedly prolonged cooperation.
The stakes are monumental — sources estimate over 22 crore Indians have downloaded or accessed betting apps, making this a Rs. 8.3 lakh crore business that robs the federal government of almost Rs. 27,000 crore yearly in taxes. With the brand new Promotion and Regulation of On-line Gaming regulation handed this 12 months, authorities are signalling a troublesome stance on habit, fraud, and celebrity-backed endorsements.
For now, all eyes are on Bollywood and cricket’s brightest stars, as they put together to reply robust questions on their affiliation with apps which will have defrauded tens of millions of Indians.
Additionally Learn: Urvashi Rautela, Sonu Sood questioned by ED in on-line betting app investigation; Yuvraj Singh, Rana Daggubati additionally underneath scanner: Stories
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