Following a raid on an illegal gambling party, Pattaya police detained 80 Indian nationals, among them a well-known high-stakes gambler who was under criminal investigation and a bank chairman.
Police were informed that a group of Indian nationals had reserved rooms and a meeting space since April 27 in order to play baccarat and blackjack, so they raided the Asia Pattaya Hotel at 12:15 a.m. on Monday and arrested 93 people, including 80 Indians.
The gamblers made an attempt to run away when they saw the cops, but they were caught. Six Thai nationals and four Burmese were also detained. The personnel and game organizers were said to be the remaining people.
Chikoti “PC” Praveen Kumar, whose Telangana properties have been searched and seized over the past year due to his alleged orchestration of high-stakes gambling vacations for Indian celebrities and millionaires in Thailand, Nepal, and Indonesia, was detained alongside the other suspects.
He is currently being investigated by India’s Enforcement Directorate as the main suspect. A bank chairman and one of his assistants, who is also the subject of an ED probe, were both arrested.Several pieces of gambling apparatus were taken by police during the raid, including three blackjack tables, 25 decks of cards, 209,215,000 chips, and three card-dealing machines.
Police also discovered 160,000 Indian rupees, eight CCTV cameras, 92 cell phones, three laptop computers, an iPad, and a logbook where gambling winnings were documented. The logbook showed that there were roughly 1 billion rupees worth of credits in use. Four locations serving baraku, an illegal tobacco, were also discovered by police.
According to Sitranan Kaewlor, 32, who identified himself as the manager of the hotel and gaming establishment, the Indian tourists were charged 50,000 Baht apiece, and the gambling room was hired for 120,000 Baht. She claimed that a Thai man had been employed to provide food and cleaning services. The card dealers and the gaming supplies were imported from India.
According to reports, the gambling room was closed to hotel workers from 1 p.m. until 6 a.m.
Charges against the people detained have not yet been made public.
