Six in Navi Mumbai held for betting on IPL

Police seized three laptops, 27 mobile phones, 27 SIM cards of different companies and some cash collectively worth ₹39,29,250.

Six people who had allegedly organised a betting racket on the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches, were arrested by the Navi Mumbai crime branch on Saturday night.

The Navi Mumbai police are looking for associates of the accused (HT Photo)

According to the police, the accused had organised the betting at a renowned hotel in Vashi. Acting on a tip-off the police raided the hotel when a match was going on between the Delhi Daredevils and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. They arrested the six accused before they could flee the spot.

“After getting confirmed reports we raided the hotel room on Saturday. From the room, we seized three laptops, 27 mobile phones, 27 SIM cards of different companies and some cash collectively worth ₹39,29,250. We also seized two cars used by the gang from outside the hotel,” said Tushar Doshi, deputy commissioner of police (crime).

“Prima facie, it appears that the accused had purchased the SIM cards by submitting bogus documents in different names. The arrested people are from Mumbai and Pune. We are now investigating to find out if the outfit was involved in similar crimes from other locations in the city,” he said.

The arrested men have been identified as Rakesh Kondre, 38, Abhijit Kolekar, 27 and Krishna Sagat, 32, all residents of Pune; along with Dharmesh Gala, 35, a resident of Mumbai, Ganesh Mane, 34, and Kishore Rihal, 36, both residents of Navi Mumbai.

They have been booked under section 420, 465, 468, 471 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 4 and 5 of the India Telegraph Act.

They were produced before the judicial court on Sunday and have been remanded to police custody till May 17.

Doshi said, “During the investigation the accused gave us some details of the people they were involved with. We have formed multiple teams and sent them to different locations to search for the other accused. Many people in named in this case are likely to be arrested in the next two to three days.”