Father of Sandalwood Drugs Case Accused Arrested for Rs 25 Crore Casino Investment

Basaveshwar Nagar police have arrested Ramakrishna Rao, the father of Rahul Thonse, who was previously involved in the Sandalwood drugs case. Rao has been accused of cheating a Bengaluru businessman, Vivek P. Hegde, of Rs 25 crore through fraudulent casino investment promises.

According to Hegde, the scam unfolded between February 2023 and February 2025, when Rao, along with his family members, including his wife Rajeshwari, daughter Raksha, and son-in-law Chetan Narayan, conned him and his friends out of a large sum. Hegde met Rao through a mutual acquaintance, Naveen Kothari, in February 2023, where Rao claimed that his daughter and son-in-law owned casino tables at the Bellagio Colombo Casino in Sri Lanka, which was purportedly managed by his son, Rahul.

Convinced by these assurances, Hegde sent Rs 30 lakh to Rahul in March 2023. Later, he traveled to Sri Lanka with Kothari, where they were shown fake arrangements, with Rahul posing as the casino owner. Hegde invested further sums totaling Rs 3.5 crore and raised another Rs 22 crore from friends.

The scam came to light when Hegde learned about Rahul’s involvement in the drugs case and demanded his money back, only to be threatened by the suspects.

The police have charged the accused under multiple sections, including criminal breach of trust and cheating, and are currently investigating the case further.

Read also: