Two arrested for cricket betting
Inspired by Bollywood movie ‘Jannat’, two youths deal to the tune of Rs 8 lakh
Two youths have been arrested from west Delhi for involvement in a cricket betting racket, police said on Wednesday.
Aditya Kumar, 21 and Jai Kumar Thakur, 25 of Moti Nagar were inspired by Bollywood movie ‘Jannat’ and organised betting to the tune of Rs eight lakh, said V Renganathan, Additional Commissioner of Police (West).
“We had received a specific information on Tuesday relating to betting of a Twenty20 match being played in Australia between Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes. The betting was being done at a house in Moti Nagar,” he added. Acting on this tip-off, a raid was conducted at the house and both were arrested.
Police also recovered a laptop, a television set, five mobile phones and a calculator from their possession. During interrogation, the duo told police that they started cricket betting to make easy money.
“Both the accused are close friends and decided to get into cricket betting after watching Hindi movie ‘Jannat’. They wanted to become rich as the actor did in the movie,” Renganathan said.
Aditya was involved in a timber business with his father, while Jai runs a business of booking of railway and air tickets.
“They had been committing the crime for the past one year,” Renganathan added.
Recently, the International Cricket Council had sought the help of the police in strengthening its anti-corruption mechanism and prevent organised crime from entering into the game through spot-fixing and illegal betting.
“We know that with online betting, there are lot ways in which people can make lot of money,” Interpol chief Ronald K Noble had said.
Last year, the ICC’s anti-corruption wing chairman Ronnie Flanagan had said that talks are on with the Interpol to prevent betting.
“We are looking at preventing organised crime from entering into cricket,” he had said.
