Pune city police busted a cricket betting racket and arrested three men during a raid at an apartment in Kondhwa Saturday. A first information report (FIR) in this regard was lodged at Kondhwa police station early on Sunday.
Officers identified the arrested accused as Wasim Hanif Shaikh, 39, of Kondhwa Khurd, I M Mulla of Ghorpadi Gaon, and Musabin Mehmood Bashaib, 35, of Somwar Peth. The police also seized five cell phones, a laptop and a dairy, together worth Rs 1.8 lakh, from them.
Two more persons – Jitesh Mehta, a pub owner in Pune, and Akshay Tiwari, a bookie from Indore, Madhya Pradesh – have been booked in the case.
On Saturday evening, crime branch sleuths carried out a raid at Dharmashri Signature Society in the Kondhwa area and found the accused involved in online betting in connection with the IPL 2023 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings. The police said the accused were allegedly taking bets through different websites and emails using cell phones and a laptop. They are also suspected to have conducted betting on IPL cricket matches in the past.
The police have booked the accused under sections 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Prevention of Gambling Act and the Indian Telegraph Act.
