Gurugram: Crime branch cracks down on cricket betting, 9 arrested so far

Cracking down against cricket betting rackets in the city, the crime branch of Gurugram Police has arrested at least nine people in separate cases for allegedly

Cracking down against cricket betting rackets in the city, the crime branch of Gurugram Police has arrested at least nine people in separate cases for allegedly making bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in the last fortnight. Since the start of the tournament last month, separate raids have been conducted at four locations - Sushant Lok, sector 107, sector 51 and Sector 69 with all the suspects being booked under relevant sections of the Public Gambling Act.

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The alleged bookmakers had been on the police radar since the IPL began on September 19. Senior police officials said that typically, such operations mushroom whenever a domestic or international sports league is being telecast. This year, the start of several sports tournaments, which usually take place in the summer, was delayed due to the raging Covid-19 pandemic. With sports returning on television, the illegal betting operations, which had been dormant, too have come back to life.

In most cases of betting on cricket matches, the modus operandi is the largely the same. Police officials said that during a match, the suspects are connected to a ‘live line’ where one of their ‘contacts’ is physically present at the match location, who informs them over the phone about the odds. The ‘local’ bookie takes bets from the punters — a person who places the bets. There is an entire chain of ‘bookies’ who communicate over the phone. The odds keep changing as the match progresses.

Preet Pal, assistant commissioner of police, (ACP), crime, said, “We are cracking down on all such illegal operations and more arrests are likely. Probe so far has found that these bookies take bets on all such sporting activities. They mostly use encrypted communication and have a nexus with bookies at several locations. We are trying to bust the whole chain.”

“Since it is a bailable offence, several accused return to gambling after they are released. It is yet to be established if the accused in these four cases have a common link or they were running independent operations. Four FIRs have been registered at respective police stations,” said ACP.

Four days after the start of IPL, on September 23, the crime branch of sector 17 received a tip-off about two bookmakers, operating from a flat in sector 107, who had taken bets on a match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. Police formed a raiding team and arrested Virendra, 27, and Rakesh Kaushik, 35, both residents of Nangloi, Delhi, while they were taking bets over the phone as the match was screened on a television set. Eight mobile phones, a notebook, a laptop and a pen were recovered from them.

Two days later, acting on a tip-off, the same crime unit arrested three more people, identified as Kapil Kumar, Nitin and Avinash, all from a society in sector 69. Police said the trio was operating a book on an IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Superkings and recovered three phones, a notebook and a laptop.

A crime branch official from sector 17, requesting anonymity, said, “In one of the raids, the bookmaker on the phone was communicating that the odds were 39 paise for a bet on the team batting first, which means that a person, placing Rs 100 on that team at that point of time, would receive Rs 139 if it wins. The odds keep changing.”

The third raid was conducted on October 1 by a crime branch team from Manesar after police received ‘secret information’ that a similar operating was being run in Sushant Lok. The accused, Tarun Kumar, a resident of Madanpuri, and Nawab Ali, a native of West Bengal, were arrested for taking bets. Along with four phones, LED TV and a laptop, Rs 8000 in cash was seized. Earlier this week on Monday, the crime branch, sector 31, arrested two persons, Rajesh alias Soni, and Nitin Dhareja, both residents of New Colony, from the ninth floor of an EWS flat in Vatika City, sector 51. The duo was running a book on a match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals. One LED TV, three mobile phones, a diary, a set top box and pen were recovered from their possession. The accused released on bail.