Eight held for betting on Mumbai-Gujarat tie in WPL

Raina Assainar Navi Mumbai: Eight men were arrested after they were caught red-handed betting on a Women’s Premier League (WPL) match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil stadium in Nerul on Saturday, said police

Raina Assainar

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Navi Mumbai: Eight men were arrested after they were caught red-handed betting on a Women’s Premier League (WPL) match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil stadium in Nerul on Saturday, said police.

The eight of them were in the stands during the match and betting, when the Central unit of Navi Mumbai crime branch raided the stadium premises. From the accused, the police seized 12 mobile phones, which were being used to take the bets.

The eight arrested have been identified as Ankit Kumar Hingad (31), Saurabh Naraniwal (30), Surendra Singh Devpur (28), Ayush Kumar Hingad (24), Nitesh Mehta (26), Pintukumar Taylor (32), Harchar Singh Arora (36) and Manjit Singh Arora (30). The accused belong to Rajasthan and Haryana and had procured SIM cards using fake documents from the two states, said police. The police said they are investigating if the arrested eight are linked to any organised betting syndicates.

“We had received reliable intel that live betting was taking place in the stadium and accordingly, we carried out a raid and found two persons at Stand-Bay-K Level-2 and six persons at Stand-Bay-K Level-1. They were using banned betting apps on their phone. They were hosting as well as participating in the betting,” said Gangadhar Devde, assistant police inspector, Central unit.

“There is a time lag, of a few seconds to sometimes even a minute, between the action in the stadium and when it is broadcast on TV. Sitting in the stadium, this group was taking advantage of that lag and were betting,” said Devde. The case is being investigated by senior police inspector Manik Nalawade from the Central unit.

The accused have been arrested under the sections of IPC, The Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act and IT Act. The accused, who are in police custody, would be produced before the court on Friday for further extension of the remand.