Accused were offering tempting odds on the Indian team, whether they won or lost during the T20 India-England match last Saturday
Accused were offering tempting odds on the Indian team, whether they won or lost during the T20 India-England match last Saturday
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Sleuths of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) busted a cricket-betting racket and nabbed a bookie while he was attempting to escape to Goa with Rs 5.5 lakh he had collected as bet-money. The accused identified as Mahesh, a resident of BTM Layout is part of a betting syndicate operating out of Mysore and Bangalore.
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| ACP S Y Haadimani approached Mahesh (center) posing as a bettor and arrested him while he was fleeing to Goa with Rs 5.5 lakh he and his associates Rajiv Kumar (right) and Sridhar had collected. |
Assistant Commissioner of Police, S Y Haadimani said that Mahesh along with his associates Rajiv Kumar and Sridhar from Mysore were offering tempting odds on the Indian team, whether the team won or lost during the T-20 India-England cricket match, which was played last Saturday.
Ulterior motives
The racket was being operated via the Internet and with mobile phones, and the bookies had collected cash amounting to several lakhs from people. Unknown to the victims, the gang had planned to collect as much money they possibly could, and then escape.
The police swung into action after being tipped-off by several bettors who had lost money. Haadimani posed as bettor, approached Mahesh and tracked his movements and then led the CCB team while nabbing him from Race Course Road on Thursday.
The accused was planning to board a bus to Goa along with the money he collected from various bettors.
The police have confiscated Rs 5.5 lakh from him along with a notebook, which contains details of amounts collected and names of bettors.
Based on information provided by the accused, the police picked up Rajiv Kumar and Sridhar from Mysore and are currently on the lookout for other gang members who are on the run.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Mahesh and his gang were habitual offenders and have also been booked by the Mysore police earlier.
"Soon after obtaining bail in earlier cases, the gang resorted to conducting their business as usual in order to make money to fight their legal battle," a CCB official said.
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