New Delhi, 23 Aug

Karnataka Congress MLA KC Veerendra 'Puppy' was arrested on Saturday under the anti-money laundering law from Sikkim in an alleged illegal online and offline betting case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said.

The federal probe agency raided 31 locations across India including Gangtok, Chitradurga and Bengaluru and Hubballi in Karnataka, Rajasthan’s Jodhpur, Mumbai in Maharashtra and Goa.

The raids were also conducted in five casinos linked to MLA Veerendra. In total, officials seized approximately Rs 12 crore in cash, gold jewelry worth Rs 6 crore and silver articles around 10 kg. Additionally, four vehicles were also seized, all under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

It said the 50-year-old MLA from Chitradurga was produced before a designated magistrate in Sikkim's capital Gangtok on Friday and a transit remand was obtained for producing him before the jurisdictional court in Bengaluru.

The Bengaluru zone of the ED is investigating the case.

The legislator was in Gangtok along with his associates on a business visit to lease a casino, the agency said.

"Several property related documents were also seized from the premises of Veerendra's brother KC Nagaraj and his son Pruthvi N Raj. His other associates like another brother KC Thippeswamy are handling operations of online gaming from Dubai," the ED said.