A staggering Rs 5,000 crore bets were placed on the Champions Trophy final match between India and New Zealand scheduled on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, claimed media reports.
The bookies involved in the betting are linked to underworld gangs including Dawood Ibrahim’s ‘D Company’. Team India’s matches have always been the favorite of international bookies and the highly anticipated final of the ICC showeice event is no different.
Big Bookies:
According to a media report, multiple Delhi residents were arrested for their involvement in cricket betting.
Chhotu Bansal, a West Delhi resident, who is currently living in Dubai had developed a betting app in Canada. People took his app on rent to place bets.
While another, named Vinay from Delhi’s Moti Nagar, directly gives inputs from Dubai international cricket stadium.
On Saturday, Delhi Police’s Crime Branch busted a well-organised illegal cricket betting racket operating in Delhi’s Karampura area, arresting three people and recovering more than Rs 22 lakh, an official.
The accused have been identified as Manish Sahani (42), Yogesh Kukreja (31) and Suraj (24), he said.
“A raid led to the arrest of three suspects who were found betting on the South Africa-New Zealand Champions Trophy semi-final match, which took place in Lahore, Pakistan, on March 5,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Aditya Gautam said.
Several betting-related equipment and cash were confiscated during the raid, including Rs 22.62 lakh deposited in different accounts. One laptop, nine mobile phones, one LED TV, an assistant sound box used for voice recordings and multiple notepads and betting slips were also recovered, he added.
The raid was conducted following a tip-off about a betting syndicate run by Sahani and an investigation was launched, revealing that the syndicate was allegedly involved in betting on the Champions Trophy semi-final match.
“On March 6, a well-coordinated raid was conducted on a flat in Karampura. Manish acted as the key organiser of the racket, operating independently without middlemen. He used voice recordings to document conversations with bettors and managed financial transactions through both bank accounts and cash dealings,” the DCP said.
Sahani, a 12th pass, reportedly entered the world of illegal betting after suffering financial losses in his earlier business of buying and selling old cars. Kukreja, a commerce graduate, managed Sahani’s accounts, while Suraj handled calls from bettors and maintained the transaction records, he said.