According to media reports, the company’s co-founders Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda were taken into custody in Bengaluru after a round of questioning by the agency and they were later produced before a local court which granted one day custody for further interrogation.

The arrests follow a series of first information reports that accused the platform of cheating users, blocking withdrawal requests, manipulating game outcomes, using fake identities and misusing know your customer data. The allegations also include the use of automated systems that acted as simulated players in order to mislead genuine users.

ED hasn’t released any official statement on the arrest of the co-founders.On November 24, ED carried out a major financial action and froze Rs 523 crore in assets linked to WinZO and another real money gaming operator Gameskraft. Of this, about Rs 505 crore belonged to WinZO in the form of bank balances, mutual funds, corporate bonds and fixed deposits.

The remaining amount was linked to Gameskraft group entities including Nirdesa Networks which operates Pocket 52.Investigators stated that the platforms continued to offer real money games to users in countries such as the United States, Brazil and Germany even after a nationwide prohibition came into force on August 22.

The agency also claimed that player funds worth more than Rs 43 crore were held back without refund.WinZO in its earlier official statement said it is fully compliant with the law and maintains that its systems and processes are designed to ensure fairness and transparency.Entrackr has reached out to WinZo for more information.

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Among the locations searched were Dream11’s office and premises linked to Sheth, as per several media reports. The action is connected to an ongoing investigation into an alleged Rs 2,434 crore financial fraud involving Mumbai-based conglomerate Jai Corp Limited, where Dream11 co-founder Harsh Jain’s father, Anand Jaikumar Jain, is a director.

Investigators are examining whether the funds raised for real estate investments were instead diverted to foreign companies.The searches were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and also covered properties linked to Anand Jain. More than 20 premises were searched in Mumbai, while additional locations in Nashik, Bengaluru and Raipur were also raided.

According to reports, the agency is probing possible financial links between Jai Corp, Dream Sports, the parent company of Dream11, and Bhavit Sheth. Investigators are examining whether funds allegedly siphoned off in the Jai Corp case were channeled through a network of entities, including technology and sports gaming firms, using structured transactions to obscure their origin.

The money laundering probe originates from a CBI case against Anand Jain, Jai Corp Limited and others, following a petition by activist Shoaib Richie Sequeira. The FIR was filed after the Bombay High Court directed the CBI in February to form a special investigation team to probe alleged financial irregularities, including misuse of public funds, investor fraud, round tripping through overseas shell firms, and diversion of funds via fictitious transactions and invoices.

As per the CBI’s case details, the special investigation team is probing multiple suspected offences, including irregularities in domestic real estate investment funds, questionable transactions involving private funds in Mauritius and Jersey, improper futures trading, diversion of bank loans to offshore entities, and fraudulent export related transactions linked to Australia and the United States.

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