NEW DELHI: An interstate cricket betting racket, which was operating during the One-Day International cricket match between India and Australia held in Bengaluru on Sunday, was busted here with the arrest of eleven men, police said.
Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, AK Singla said that a case was registered under Sections of Delhi Gambling Act; IT Act and Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code against the 11 from whom they recovered 74 mobile phones; seven laptops with pen drive, four special briefcases for holding and charging the mobile phones, two LCD TVs and 11 diaries.
The gang had already taken bets worth more than Rs 5 crore, he said. The accused have been identified as Amit Arora, 48 and his brother Anuj, 44; Ritesh Bansal, 37; Ansul Bansal, 27; Naveen Kumar, 32; Rohit Sharma, 34; Ritesh Aggarwal, 38; Rohit Rastogi, 34; Aman Gupta, 22; Ankush Bansal, 38; and Anurag Aggarwal, 35.
Accused Amit Arora was identified as the kingpin of the racket. The police team raided a house in Ashoka Niketan, Karkardooma on Sunday afternoon when the match was in progress. The team apprehended them red-handed.
“Gamblers call on specific numbers given by the gang to place bets. Details of bets are meticulously kept on laptops. The gang uses specially designed betting software on their laptops to record and calculate bets placed during the match. Amit had arranged for three special phone connections called ‘Tota Lines’ (parrot lines) which he had bought from an operator of Delhi,” Singla said.
“These lines keep repeating the current rates of betting after every ball on a loudspeaker. He verbally relays these rates to all the ‘punters’ who place bets with him. Bets are placed on the winner of toss, runs, sessions, wickets, final victory,” he added.