Amid the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rachakonda police on Wednesday, April 6, announced that they have busted an online cricket betting racket with the arrest of seven persons. The police also seized property worth Rs 56 lakh. Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat told reporters that on a tip-off, the Special Operations Team (SOT) conducted a raid in Satya Nagar colony and apprehended seven accused and seized Rs 11.80 lakh cash. The police also found over Rs 31 lakh in two bank accounts.
The raid was conducted when the accused were accepting bookings for betting during the match between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, police said. A case under sections 3 and 4 of the Telangana Gaming Act was booked against the accused.
The main organiser or bookie, identified as Tanniru Nagaraju, line operator Gundu Kishore, ‘sub-bookies’ Tanniru Ashok and Chemmeti Vinod, along with punters Kotla Dinesh Bhargav, Medishetty Kishore, and Bojana Raju were arrested. Two other accused are absconding. The key accused all hail from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Nagaraju was earlier arrested by Vanasthalipuram in a similar case in 2016, according to the police. He had been operating the betting racket with his friend Kishore and two distant relatives Ashok and Vinod, police said.
Explaining their modus operandi, a press release from the police said that the bookies had arranged telephonic lines and given numbers to punters. The betting starts after the first ball of the match and goes on till the last ball. It fluctuates depending on the situation of the match. The punters make calls to bookies during the match and place their betting. The bookies through their collection agents were collecting money from punters either in cash or through online payment.
The Police Commissioner appealed to the youth to stay away from betting. He said registration of cases would mar their chances of securing passports and getting jobs.