Crime Branch of Pune City police arrested six bookies from different states while they were allegedly betting on the IPL 2023 cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants at an apartment in Kharadi on Wednesday night.
Police have identified the accused as Gaurav Dharamvani (26), Sunil Lakhwani (26) and Japjeetsingh Bagga of Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Jaspreet Singh (29) and Tarandeep Singh (33) of Ludhiana in Punjab, and Lal Kishore Ram (37) of Darbhanga in Bihar.
A first information report (FIR) was lodged in this case at the Chandan Nagar police station.
Acting on a tip-off, a team headed by senior inspector Bharat Jadhav of the social security cell of Pune City Police Crime Branch, raided an apartment in Kharadi on Wednesday night.
The police arrested the six persons at the spot and seized 16 cell phones, two laptops, a WiFi router and other items, all worth Rs 4.8 lakh.
A press release issued Thursday by DCP (crime) Amol Zende stated that the accused persons were allegedly taking bets from people online for the IPL 2023 cricket matches through different websites. Police said the accused were sending “login IDs” and “passwords” to the people asking them to bet by transferring money into the bank accounts of the bookies.
Police also seized Rs 10 lakh allegedly found in the bank accounts of the bookies in two different banks.
“Accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Gambling Act and the Indian Telegraph Act. Further investigation is on,” said Assistant Police Inspector Aniket Pote, the investigating officer of the case.
Earlier, on May 20, crime branch sleuths had busted a betting racket with the arrest of three persons during a raid at Dharmashri Signature Society in Kondhwa area. The accused were found allegedly involved in betting online over a cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
Police also booked Jitesh Mehta, a pub owner in Pune, and Akshay Tiwari, a bookie from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore in that case. A search operation is being carried out to arrest them. An FIR was registered in the matter at the Kondhwa police station.