The police on Wednesday claimed to have busted an Indian Premier League (IPL) betting racket with the arrest of 13 people, including a master bookie, on April 22. They also seized ₹45,000 from one of the arrested sub-bookies, Afsar.
The police received a tip-off regarding some persons at Bhikam Singh Colony in Shahdara betting on the match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrise Hyderabad on April 22. A team from Farsh Bazar police station raided the house and arrested Afsar.
Multiple raids
“After Afsar was arrested and interrogated, simultaneous raids were conducted at multiple locations in Shahdara and other parts of east Delhi, and the others were arrested. We have seized 28 mobile phones, one output box with 19 lines, a television and two set-top boxes from the accused,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Nupur Prasad.
Afsar had told the police about master bookie Gulshan, who operated from Vivek Vihar. The police raided his house and seized an output box with 19 phones belonging to sub-bookies and a broadcast phone — which allowed all sub-bookies to hear live updates from the stadium at the same time.
“Gulshan received live updates from Nipun and Anil, who watched the matches live in stadiums. There is a lag of about three seconds between live telecast and live matches. Taking advantage of the time lag, Nipun and Anil would share the details with Gulshan through a broadcast call. Sub-bookies could access live information by paying ₹1,500 per line. Live information from the stadium allowed sub-bookies to take bets to suit their convenience. Nipun and Anil even travelled out of the city to watch matches and share details,” she said.
“We have significant leads in the case. Others who had taken phone lines to receive direct updates from the stadium will also be arrested. We are analysing the phone data and call records of the arrested persons,” added Ms. Prasad.
