Navi Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai Crime Branch has raided a star hotel in Vashi and arrested six people for allegedly running an online IPL betting racket.
“We had information that a few men from Pune and Mumbai were betting for the match between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday,” senior police inspector Sandeepan Shinde, Crime Branch Unit I, said.
Mr. Shinde led the team that raided the room number 1918 of Four Points Hotel at 10 p.m. on Saturday.
The two key accused arrested in the raid have been identified as Abhijeet Malhari Kolekar (33) from Pune and Dharmesh Pravin Gala (35) from Mumbai.
While Mr. Gala runs a travel business and claims to have been betting since this IPL season began, Mr. Kolekar owns shops in Pune, and is suspected to have been betting for the last one year.
The other accused are Rakesh Arun Kondre (38) and Krishna Ganpat Sagat (32) from Pune, and Ganesh Sambhaji Mane (34) and Kishor Jagdish Rihal (36) from Navi Mumbai.
The police seized three laptops, 27 mobile phones with SIM cards, two vehicles, a voice recorder, and ₹1.02 lakh in cash, total amounting to ₹39.29 lakh. A notebook with the details of the betters and the money they wagered has also been recovered.
According to the police, the accused dealt with people they knew and did transactions in cash. “They used online applications, which were handled from outside the country. We have found that some of the SIM cards used by the accused were procured through fake documents. Names of other bookies have been revealed, and a search is on for them,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Tushar Doshi said.
The accused were arrested under Sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged as genuine) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC, along with Sections 4 (A) and 5 of the Gambling Act and Section 25 (c) of the Indian Telegraph Act.
The accused were presented in court on Sunday and remanded in police custody till May 17.
