3 bookies held for online betting on IPL matches in Palghar near Mumbai

The local crime branch (LCB) of Palghar police arrested three bookies, Jinesh Punamiya, 34, Irfan Shaikh, 34, and Shahbaaz Khan, 36, for their alleged involvement

The local crime branch (LCB) of Palghar police arrested three bookies, Jinesh Punamiya, 34, Irfan Shaikh, 34, and Shahbaaz Khan, 36, for their alleged involvement in an online cricket betting racket in Dahanu on Tuesday night.

HT Image

“We acted on a tip-off and raided a medical shop in Dahanu belonging to Punamiya. We found that the accused had been allegedly accepting bets for the Tuesday night T-20 cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL),” said Ravindra Naik, inspector, LCB, Palghar.

The three accused had been accepting and placing bets on apps and websites on their smartphones. Police have seized the phones and numerous SIM cards from them. The three accused were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1985 and Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act, 1987. A total of ₹1.25 lakh in bets were placed for the IPL match using the app which the trio had downloaded after paying ₹1 lakh for the user ID and password, said Naik.

In Dahanu and Palghar, bookies have adopted high-tech means to place bets and settle accounts in a cashless mode via mobile applications and websites.