A businessman from Nagpur lost staggering Rs 58 crore in online gambling and the investigation led police to a suspected bookie and the recovery of Rs 14 crore cash along with four kg of gold biscuits on Saturday, a top police officer said.

However, the accused, identified as Anant alias Sontu Navratan Jain, fled just before police raided his residence in Gondia city, 160 km away from Nagpur. Police suspect he has escaped to Dubai, the officer said.

“Prima facie, Jain had convinced the complainant- a businessman- to explore online gambling as a lucrative avenue for earning profits. Initially hesitant, the businessman eventually succumbed to Jain’s persuasion and transferred Rs 8 lakh through a hawala merchant,” said Nagpur Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar.

Jain provided the businessman with a link on WhatsApp to open an online gambling account. The businessman found Rs 8 lakh deposited in the account and he began gambling, Kumar said.

“After initial success, the businessman’s fortunes took a drastic downturn as he lost a whopping Rs 58 crore while winning around Rs 5 crore,” the police commissioner said.

He said the businessman grew suspicious as he was losing and demanded his money back, but Jain refused.

“The businessman lodged a complaint with the cyber police, leading to the registration of a case of fraud under the Indian Penal Code. Police raided Jain’s residence in Gondia. The operation resulted in the seizure of a substantial amount of evidence, including Rs 14 crore cash and four kg gold biscuits,” Kumar added. 

The large quantity of cash is being counted and the final figure of seizure is yet to be arrived at.