India: police arrest man over cricket betting

Police in Pune have arrested a man who was allegedly offering betting on the weekend’s India-Pakistan cricket match.

India.- Police in India have made another arrest related to betting on cricket. Officers in Pune have arrested a man who was allegedly taking bets on the weekend’s India vs Pakistan cricket match. Shripad Yadav, 24, is reported to be a resident of Akurdi.

According to The Hindustan Times, police said officers patrolling the Kothrud area on Sunday received a tip-off that the accused was taking bets on the Asian Cup match at the Demora bar. The man had reportedly been arrested for taking bets in the past in the Pimpri-Chinchwad area

Cricket remains India’s most popular sport. There is a huge underground cricket betting market said to be worth between US$45bn and US$150bn a year. Around 80 per cent of illegal sports betting in India is on Cricket.

A week ago, police claimed to have dismantled an illegal online cricket betting operation in Panchkula with the arrest of four people. Officers seized 26 mobile phones, six laptops and ₹35,000 that had allegedly been bet on the outcome of the London cricket series.

In July, police in the state of Gujarat also arrested four people in a raid targeting an illegal betting operation that apparently broadcast fake cricket matches to raise bets.