Police have arrested eight people, including artist Raju Paudel (Raju Master) and Marichman Shrestha ‘Balchi Dhurve’, on the charge of advertising and promoting an online betting platform. Spokesperson of Valley Crime Investigation Office and Superintendent of Police (SP) Ravindra Regmi informed that they were arrested on Wednesday.
According to SP Regmi, those arrested are Marichman Shrestha (Balchi Dhurve), Raju Paudel (Raju Master), Pawan Khatiwada, Alish Rai, Jwalan Ghartimagar, Ganesh Devkota, Saroj Ghimire and Begam Nepali. On Wednesday, the police also revealed five agents who made bets worth more than one billion through OneX Bet. Lately, as the promotion of betting and casino gaming apps has started on social media, the police has started preparing to take action against those involved in such activities.
Article 125 of the Criminal Code of Nepal 2074 prohibits gambling or betting. In sub-section 920 of section 125, 910 of (a) the person who gambles or gambles for the first time shall be imprisoned for three months or a fine of up to 30 thousand rupees and in sub-section (b) the person who gambles or plays for the second time shall be imprisoned for up to one year and fined up to 50 thousand rupees and repeated for subsequent offenses Imprisonment for an additional three months and a fine of up to 10,000 rupees.
Police allege that the arrested person promoted betting through YouTube through the OneX app. An advertisement has been seen on YouTube saying that you can get a discount on OneX betting by using a promo code. Although the government has decided to ban online betting websites including ONEX Bet in Nepal, the trend of online betting has not been controlled.
