Delhi Police bust betting syndicate, arrest mastermind

Police said the accused, Lalit Verma alias Neetu, was operating another betting racket from a hideout in Himachal Pradesh and was arrested when he came to his home in east Delhi’s Uttam Nagar to visit

The Delhi Police crime branch on Monday said they have arrested a 39-year-old fugitive who was one of the masterminds of an organised betting syndicate busted in northeast Delhi’s Bhajanpura in 2015.

Lalit Verma was last arrested in 2010 in Ludhiana by the Punjab Police for running an organised betting racket. His interrogation had then revealed that he had earned over ₹100 crores using which bought a number of vehicles and properties across the country. (Representative image)

Police said the accused, Lalit Verma alias Neetu, was operating another betting racket from a hideout in Himachal Pradesh and was arrested when he came to his home in east Delhi’s Uttam Nagar to visit. He carried a reward on ₹50,000 on his arrest.

“On Sunday, our team learnt about Verma’s arrival at his home in east Uttam Nagar. A raid was conducted and he was arrested. His name in the Bhajanpura case had surfaced during the interrogation of his arrested father and other accused ,” said deputy commissioner of police (crime) Monika Bhardwaj.

Verma’s father was among several associates arrested after the 2015 racket bust. Later in July 2016, the northeast district police arrested former Uttar Pradesh minister DP Yadav, who at that time was already serving a life term in a prison in Dehradun for a murder, on alleged charges of accepting protection money from members of the gang, police said.

“They were doing the illegal activities without any difficulty because they were getting protection from former cabinet minister of Uttar Pradesh DP Yadav. The mafia don DP Yadav used to provide them shelter and harboured this syndicate,” said the DCP.

Two of the key accusedarrested in 2015 had claimed that they used to send ₹2 lakh per day as protection money to Yadav and his family members, the then deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Ajit Kumar Singla had said on July 26, 2016, after arresting Yadav.

Verma was last arrested in 2010 in Ludhiana by the Punjab Police for running an organised betting racket. His interrogation had then revealed that he had earned over ₹100 crores using which bought a number of vehicles and properties across the country, said DCP Bhardwaj.