Nagpur: Acting on specific intelligence, the Nagpur City Police Crime Branch busted an illegal cricket betting racket operating in the city and arrested five persons during an Indian Premier League match.
The raid was conducted during the IPL fixture between Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants. The operation took place in the jurisdiction of Beltarodi Police Station.
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Based on confidential information, the Crime Branch team raided a location in the Manish Nagar area, where the accused were allegedly accepting bets from customers over the telephone. Police said the betting was being conducted using the “Khaiwadi” method, a system commonly used in illegal cricket gambling.
The arrested accused have been identified as Suraj Umesh Rai (26) from Yavatmal, Sagar Dhanraj Shivhare (35) from Bahadura, Jitendra Shankarrao Khante (30) from Kharbi, Sumit Subhash Rai (34) from Parvati Nagar, and Vicky Ganesh Jaiswal (37) from Manish Nagar.
Police registered an offence against the accused under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 336(3), 340(2), 318 and 61, along with Sections 4 and 5 of the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act 2000.
During the raid, police seized property worth approximately Rs 11.84 lakh. The recovered items include a computer board used for maintaining betting records, ten mobile phones, a calculator, pens, writing pads, two notebooks containing betting entries, one four-wheeler and two motorcycles.
The operation was carried out under the leadership of Police Inspector Mahesh Sagade, along with Sub-Inspectors Madhukar Kathoke and Amit Deshmukh, Assistant Sub-Inspector Santosh Thakur, and other members of the Crime Branch team.
Police officials stated that illegal betting activities tend to increase during high-profile cricket tournaments such as the IPL. The Crime Branch has intensified surveillance and will continue strict action against both online and offline gambling networks operating in the city.
