Varanasi, Nov. 14 -- The Varanasi cyber crime cell and Sarnath police have arrested three men for allegedly cheating people of more than Rs.8.14 crore through online Ludo betting. The accused reportedly lured people into playing the game by promising to double their money. A total of 19 complaints have been registered against them across nine states. All three accused are residents of Varanasi. Police are examining their criminal records and working to dismantle the entire network. Assistant commissioner of police (Cyber Crime) Apurva Pandey said a joint team of the cyber crime cell and Sarnath police raided Shiv Vihar Colony, under the Sarnath police station area, on Friday following a tip-off. The team arrested Sagar Seth, Mangal Kumar and Sudip Kashyap. During questioning, the accused revealed that they had created a Telegram group named "New Ludo Parivar". They would add people to the group and encourage them to bet on a prohibited online Ludo game by promising to double their money. The ACP said the accused collected betting money from players through UPI transactions into their own bank accounts. They would deduct an illegal commission from each round and pay the remaining amount to the players. Police examined the accused's mobile phones and seven bank accounts linked to platforms such as Paytm and PhonePe. More than Rs.1.46 lakh was found in these accounts. The investigation also revealed suspicious transactions worth lakhs of rupees during October and November alone, Pandey said. Police have frozen the bank accounts of the arrested men. According to the police, four complaints were linked to Sagar Seth's bank account, seven to Mangal Kumar's account and eight to Sudeep Kashyap's account. All three accused were produced before a court and subsequently sent to jail. Police are also investigating whether other people were involved in the fraud or were working with the accused. htc...