NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has arrested two people from the Arun Jaitely Stadium on charges of ‘sattebaazi (betting)’ during a match of the recently suspended Indian Premier League (IPL). The duo had entered the stadium, also known as Feroz Shah Kotla, illegally posing as staff of a municipal corporation of Delhi (MCD).
Delhi Police’s special staff deployed in the stadium arrested the duo on May 2 during the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. The accused have been identified as Krishan Garg, 26, a resident of Swaroop Nagar in Delhi and Manish Kansal, 38, a resident of Jalandhar in Punjab, said Rohit Meena, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Central District. Garg was posing as housekeeping staff while Kansal posed asa heathcare worker of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
According to the FIR filed by the police at IP Estate police station, “At around 7.30 pm, police staff saw two men standing in the VIP lounge gallery at Gate no. 8 and talking without wearing masks. Witnessing their suspicious behaviour, our staff asked them to wear masks and explained them about the pandemic but they refused to listen and said that there was no corona pandemic.”
“Observing their suspicious behaviour, police started questioning them. They started cooking up false stories and tried to mislead the police personnel. Later, Garg said they had valid accredation cards and showed the cards to police which read as junior assistant and health supervisor, SDMC. However, they could not provide their official identity cards and tried to escape,” reads the FIR.
They confessed that they entered the stadium illegally by procuring the accreditation cards to gamble. A case for violating epidemic act and under other relevant sections for gambling was filed and the two were arrested, said the police. Police is trying to find out the source of the accreditation cards. “The details have also been shared with anti corruption wing of the BCCI. The two has been sent to police custody for five days by court,” said the senior police official. Outer District police also arrested about 25 people from Nihal Vihar for gambling.
One from Delhi, other from Punjab
The accused have been identified as Krishan Garg, a resident of Swaroop Nagar in Delhi and Manish Kansal, a resident of Jalandhar in Punjab, said police. Garg was posing as housekeeping staff while Kansal posed as heathcare worker of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.