Hyderabad: Amidst growing controversy over the missing horses, backend financial discrepancies, and suspected misuse of race telecast feeds, a letter written by Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs, a senior figure in the Indian turf circuit, to the secretary of the Bangalore Turf Club on October 19, 2024, has come into focus.
Kantharaj Urs, a senior figure in the Indian turf circuit who has held committee positions at the Bangalore, Mysore and Madras Turf Clubs, confirmed to Deccan Chronicle that he wrote the letter questioning the decision to hand over telecasting and tote software rights to North Alley, a company led by controversial techie Suresh Paladugu.
The letter accused the firm of failing to deliver promised software upgrades, mishandling race day operations, and possibly enabling offshore betting through unprotected streams.
Kantharaj Urs pointed out that the company had failed to upgrade essential software, which led to jackpot payout errors, system crashes, and cash shortfalls. He cited audit reports that recorded bugs in the servers and repeated miscalculations in dividend payments. “Cash shortages are being written off routinely, and unclaimed ticket values that once amounted to over Rs.1 crore have vanished,” he wrote.
He questioned the motive behind their substantial sponsorships despite limited revenue. “Could it be that North Alley is using our feed to facilitate offshore illegal betting operations?” he asked. Urs also pointed to North Alley’s Hyderabad-based HSPL League, calling it a failed venture.
His letter now sits alongside developments in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, where a PIL filed earlier this week raises alarm over the unauthorised transport of the horses from Hyderabad to Jabalpur and their poor condition in the farm now. However, the horses at Jabalpur finally might be saved.
Tegbir Brar, council member of the National Horse Breeding Society, said the Royal Western India Turf Club had taken over care of the remaining horses. He confirmed that RWITC sent veterinarians and staff to stabilise the animals, many of whom were not fit to travel. “The system has been manipulated by someone who has failed at every single thing he has done in this industry. It is a poor reflection of the race community but I want people to know that others here care deeply for their horses,” Brar said.
Hyderabad Race Club chairman Surender Reddy said the club’s Jockey Club had purchased only two horses from Hita Net and denied any link with the remaining animals. He said the tenant entity was HPCM and that the club had issued a vacate notice in January. The premises were vacated in May. He confirmed that the agreement was on official stamp paper and that HRC had no stake in the companies involved. When asked about the launch event of Paladugu, he said, “They invited us, we went. That’s it.”
A racing analyst shared corporate data showing indirect links between Paladugu and Hitha Net. While no official directorship overlap exists on paper, records show that the founding director of Hitha Net was Pavithra Sheety. Paladugu now controls HPSL however, both these companies are connected via 9AND9 Digisoft Insights Pvt Ltd, where both Paladugu and Sheety held Director positions as per Zouba Corp.