13 bookies held, laptop and Rs 9,800 cash seized

City police arrested 13 persons on Wednesday who have been betting on cricket through mobile applications.
13 bookies held, laptop and Rs 9,800 cash seized

VIJAYAWADA: City police arrested 13 persons on Wednesday who have been betting on cricket through mobile applications. A laptop and Rs 9,800 cash has been recovered from them.Presenting them before the media, police commissioner Gautam Sawang said that the accused, who are bookies and sub-bookies, were caught red-handed while betting for a match between Dhaka Dynamites and Rangapur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). 

Among those arrested, one Pothula Purnachandra Rao is a habitual bookie and has several cases filed against him. The accused used to carry out this illegal activity in a rented house in Radha Nagar under Ajit Singh Nagar police station limits. “The prime accused allegedly runs the business with the help of 20 others. Their modus operandi is to invite friends to register on applications like Cricket Mazaa, Cricker Liveline, Cric Buzz and other websites.

The cash collection, however, was done manually,” said Sawang.
He further said that police are scrutinising the credentials of the accused, including their bank transactions and call data records. “Several cases under the provisions of the Gambling Act and the IT Act have been booked against them. Now, we are focussing on tracing the developers of the apps,” said Sawang. 

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