India: 5 arrested for alleged IPL betting

Five people, including university graduates, have been arrested in Lucknow.

India.- Police in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, have arrested five people in connection with an illegal betting operation allegedly run by tech professionals and management graduates. According to local media, those arrested, aged between 20 to 30 years old, had been running the enterprise for the past four years.

Those arrested were reported to hold mid-level positions in private companies and would convene annually during the Indian Premier League season to run betting operations. A man named Sumit Dahiya, is suspected of being the mastermind. He has a BBA degree from a private university. The other four arrested have BTech degrees from various institutions.

Following surveillance and intelligence gathering, the police took action on May 17. Vineet Jaiswal, the Deputy Commissioner of Police for the South Zone, said those arrested had confessed to their involvement and disclosed their modus operandi.

According to the police, the suspects used Cricket Live App on their laptops, which allowed them to access real-time updates of matches during the ongoing season. They used this to circumvent the slight delay in the live telecast on satellite television. They allegedly made phone calls and social media to encourage people to place bets on matches.

Sailendra Giri, the Station House Officer of the Sushant Golf City police, said group members would travel to attend every game, with one of them attending inside the stadium.

Earlier this week, Pratappur police in Chhattisgarh arrested five people for alleged illegal betting on IPL matches using the Mahadev Book app. Police raided a residence in Sarnapara village and seized 25 mobile phones, three laptops and assets valued at over Rs 5 lakh.