Unable to control Indian Premiere League (IPL) betting, with the existing provisions of law, as the cricket season hots up, the city police have decided to charge at least two bookies from the city under the Goonda Act. The Central Crime Branch (CCB), working on the cases, refused to divulge the names of the two bookies.
At present, the only legal provision to book those involved in cricket betting is under Sections 78 and 79 of the Karnataka Police Act, which has a maximum punishment of six month’s imprisonment, or a fine as low as Rs. 500. Karnataka does not have a separate law to penalise gambling.
This is the situation even as the city has turned into a major hub of cricket betting, particularly during the IPL season.
Though the city police have raided betting dens in the city and booked as many as 33 cases this year, the investigations have led nowhere and most of the culprits are out on bail. There have been several instances of them getting back into the racket.
Sleuths from the CCB, Special Investigation Division, are on their toes during every IPL match, and have busted betting rings in the city for almost every match. Friday was no different, with the sleuths simultaneously raiding two houses in Subramanya Nagar and Vyalikaval and arresting two men who were running a betting ring via mobile phones.
But these men are only the last link in a long chain of bookies, and are the immediate interface with those who bet. Their mobile records usually reveal that they are in touch with bookies in Mumbai. City police in many cases have cracked the identity of these bookies, and tipped-off their counterparts, which in a few cases have led to arrests.
However, a senior CCB sleuth involved in the probe said that in recent cases, the bookies handling operations in the city have been found to be based out of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and Jaipur in Rajasthan. However, no major bookie has been arrested in the city, yet.
A retired intelligence officer alleged that the crackdown on IPL betting was only an eyewash, as the police do not pursue the leads to nab the bookies running the show in the city. Incidentally, an IGP rank officer in the city is now suspected to have links with at least two Mumbai-based bookies.
