BENGALURU: In three separate incidents, Special Enquiry Wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) caught eight people, including a canteen worker at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, for allegedly selling IPL tickets in black ahead of Thursday’s match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC).
The accused have been identified as Manoj Khande (28), from Chandigarh, who works in a stadium canteen, and his associate Santhosh (28), a resident of RT Nagar.
Sources informed that Manoj was caught red-handed by CCB officers, who posed as cricket fans to trap him. During questioning, he admitted to selling tickets originally priced at Rs 1,200 for as much as Rs 7,000. Based on his confession, Santhosh was also arrested, and four tickets were recovered.
Police added that two others, canteen manager Shiva Kumar H and a staffer, Nagaraj K were allegedly involved in the racket and are currently absconding.
In another incident, five men were caught selling complimentary tickets for Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Sources said a man named Cherian had received the tickets from his private company as complimentary passes to watch the match. Instead of using them, Cherian allegedly hired the five to sell the tickets for profit.
In another incident, a 44-year-old man identified as Manjuntha was arrested for selling tickets during the IPL match on Thursday. Cubbon Park police have registered three separate FIRs in connection with the sale of IPL tickets.