Bookie held for placing bets on World Cup ties

The officers from the property cell of Mumbai crime branch have arrested a 40-year-old bookie from his Ghatkopar residence on Saturday. He was caught accepting bets on the ICC Cricket World Cup matches.

The officers from the property cell of Mumbai crime branch have arrested a 40-year-old bookie from his Ghatkopar residence on Saturday. He was caught accepting bets on the ICC Cricket World Cup matches.

According to the police, Samir Chheda would take all precautions to evade the cops, which included using a new phone number for placing bets before every match. The accused has been handed over to the Pantnagar police.

Crime branch sources said they were recently informed about Chheda accepting bets from his Garodia Nagar residence. Following the tip-off, a team raided his residence.

“Five mobile phones, a laptop, a set top box and an LCD monitor have been recovered from Chheda’s residence. He was found accepting bets on the quarter final match between West Indies and New Zealand,” said inspector MV Gorhe of the Pantnagar police station.

“We found CCTV cameras on both the doors of his residence. He kept a close eye on the footage so that he could hide the electronic items and escape, if necessary,” said assistant inspector Nitin Patil of the property cell.

The cops posed as executives from a cellular service provider to gain entry to his residence. “The accused has been booked under relevant sections of Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act and Information Technology Act and presently is in police custody,” said Gorhe.