IPl betting racket busted, two arrested with Rs 33.6 lakh cash in Odisha's Berhampur

The arrested persons are R Lalie Achary (50) of Gosaninuagaon and K Prasant Kumar Subudhi (43) of Gandhinagar in the city.
For representational purposes (File Photo | EPS)
For representational purposes (File Photo | EPS)

BERHAMPUR:  In a major breakthrough, Berhampur police on Friday busted an Indian Premier League (IPL) betting racket having links with Dubai as well as major cities in the country and arrested two persons.

The arrested persons are R Lalie Achary (50) of Gosaninuagaon and K Prasant Kumar Subudhi (43) of Gandhinagar in the city. A whopping Rs 33.61 lakh cash, four cell phones and three ATM cards were seized from the duo. DiG (Southern Range) Satyabrata Bhoi said last week, Aska police had arrested three agents involved in placing bets on ongoing iPL matches in UAE. 

During interrogation, police came to know that a racket was active throughout the State including Berhampur and Bhubaneswar. in the course of investigation, it was found that Lalie was the kingpin of the racket.

He was involved in betting for the last five to seven years. the accused have links with bookies of Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Dubai, the DiG said. 

The IPL betting syndicate operating out of Berhampur had a punter base spread across several cities in the country and even outside.

The betting takes place over teams and important matches of the iPL. “the bookies were earlier dependent on physical transactions through their respective agents. But now, the entire operation is being carried out online over mobile phones.

As multiple layers (chain of people, bookies and customers) are involved, it usually gets difficult for enforcement agencies to track down such syndicates,” Bhoi said.

IPL betting racket busted, two held with Rs 33.6 lakh cash

Berhampur SP Pinak Mishra said as the apps and websites used to carry out betting were registered outside the country including Dubai, it is suspected that the roots of the illegal trade has spread to various other countries too.

“This particular syndicate had set up its own network and the conduits used to collect money through their agents. The entire operation was controlled by the prime accused Lalie,” he said.

It is believed that the total volume of business may go up to Rs 5 to Rs 10 lakh per day.

Mishra said police are facing difficulties in collecting credible evidence as the entire operation was conducted online and there is no physical trail.

“We suspect involvement of many more individuals in the syndicate who would be nabbed soon.” A case under several Sections of the IPC and Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act has been registered against the accused duo.

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