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IPL betting racket busted in Maharshtra: 11 bookies arrested
The Raigad police busted a cricket betting racket and arrested 11 bookies placing bets during the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.
The Raigad police busted a cricket betting racket and arrested 11 bookies placing bets during the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.
According to police, the bookies operated the racket from Gujarat, Karnataka and Dubai. The main bookies are still at large, police said.
“We have arrested 11 bookies so far. Various teams have been formed and are dispatched to Gujarat and Karnataka to trace the remaining accused,” said Jamil Shaikh, inspector, crime branch.
Following their interrogation, police zeroed down on nine other bookies and identified five more persons. An officer said while the racket is operating from Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra in India, internationally it originates from Dubai, where the current IPL season is being held.
A crime branch officer said, “We raided a hotel room in Khandpe, Karjat on October 1 and arrested two persons. The duo Kanti Varsungia, 43, a Thane resident and Prakash Pujari, 42, a Mulund resident were arrested with five phones and were accepting bets on a Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians match.”
The investigation revealed that the entire operation was managed on a mobile application using a login-ID system. The main bookie would create various IDs using a super mastercard and send it to at least ten bookies working under him. The mid-level bookies would further create up to ten IDs each, using a mastercard. These 100 IDs are given to gamblers across locations to place bets on the cricket matches.
Each bet is placed on the betting application using a point system and the entire transaction along with the coordination takes place on the application. The bets are placed on each over or each ball bowled. After the gamblers place their bets, the mid-level bookies forward it to the main bookie.
Each Monday, the bookies distribute the funds based on who won the most points.
Officials said the mastercard used by the bookies has a limit of anything between ₹5 lakh to ₹15 lakh and the mid-level bookies pay the main bookie who then distributes the winnings. Each match witnesses a betting of at least ₹10 lakh, police said.
The police have found five IDs, the transaction details of which are likely with the main bookie, they suspect.
The accused are remanded in police custody till Sunday.
