Links lead to betting promotions on BSEC site

If you type Betwinner, which is an online sports betting site, on Google and scroll past a couple of search results, you will find a link related to Bangladesh.

If you click on the link, it will take you directly to a page on the website of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) which shows an article promoting betting for Bangladeshis.

Another link bearing a title starting with the word "Baji", which means betting in Bangla, also leads straight to a similar article on a page of the capital market regulator's website.

Both articles describe how their apps and sites enable gambling on sports, casino games, or even cricket.

Betwinner recently came under spotlight after cricket allrounder Shakib Al Hasan announced his "new official partnership" with Betwinner's sister concern Betwinner news on his official Instagram account

They claim Bangladeshi participants would be facilitated with transactions in taka, the currency of Bangladesh and a $100 bonus on membership.

On the bottom right corner of both articles are a number of links leading to similar articles on the BSEC website.

Gambling and betting are illegal in Bangladesh.

Betwinner recently came under the spotlight after Bangladesh cricket allrounder Shakib Al Hasan announced his "new official partnership" with Betwinner's sister concern Betwinner news on his official Instagram account on August 3.

This prompted Bangladesh Cricket Board to state that they will review the situation first before sending Shakib a notice if the cricketer is found to be involved in a sponsorship deal with a betting company

"This has come to our notice," said Mohammad Rezaul Karim, spokesperson of the BSEC.

"As much as I am concerned, there is no such content in our website. But we will look into why the links are leading to our site," he added.

"Our office closed is closed today (Saturday). A quick measure will be taken tomorrow discussing with our management and information systems officials," he added.

"We will also see whether legal action can be taken," he said.

An IT expert said the BSEC website might have already been compromised and it was done with the intention to give legitimacy to the betting platforms.

Another expert said the content could have been uploaded from the host end of the BSEC server.

"Given the current dollar crisis, a huge amount of foreign currency is going out of the country through such online betting," said AKM Fahim Mashroor, a former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services.

"Bangladesh Bank and other law enforcing agencies must act with urgency," said Mashroor, alsochief executive officer of Bdjobs.com and AjkerDeal.