HYDERABAD: Uppal police arrested three persons for allegedly forging recommendation letters of VIPs and VVIPs, including judges, ministers and governors, to procure high-value IPL tickets and sell them at inflated prices. Three others are absconding.
The accused were arrested on Sunday during bandobust duty for an IPL match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. They were identified as Gattamaneni Ashok (25), Kankanala Dinesh (25) and Singamaneni Venumadhav (26), all from Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh. The absconding accused are Ashish, Senthil and Tansil from Chennai.
Police said the trio were caught around 3 pm while attempting to sell tickets at higher rates. Each of them was found in possession of one complimentary IPL ticket dated May 3, valued at `22,000. Two more tickets were recovered from their car.
During interrogation, the accused confessed to forging recommendation letters of VIPs and VVIPs to procure tickets from cricket associations in Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and selling them at inflated rates.
Police seized the car, five IPL tickets, five mobile phones and forged letterheads. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, 2023. The accused were produced before a court on Monday. Further investigation is underway.