Madhya Pradesh cops bust inter-state IPL betting racket; five held

Jabalpur: The Government Railway Police has busted an inter-state gang allegedly involved in accepting online bets on IPL cricket matches by arresting five persons from Delhi, and Narsinghpur and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Saturday.

The investigation stemmed from a complaint lodged by a man who claimed one Shubham Lodhi had lured him into submitting his Aadhaar and PAN cards to open a bank account for receiving welfare aid from the government, a police officer said.

The preliminary investigation suggested that the gang had opened 40 accounts with banks to deposit money generated from betting on IPL matches and gaming.

"The illegal transactions ranged from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh," Jabalpur GRP inspector Balram Yadav told PTI, adding that the police are searching for other accused.

He said Lodhi had met the complainant at Madan Mahal railway station in Jabalpur. The investigation led the police to Lodhi and subsequently to another accused Shubham Sharma who are residents of the Narsinghpur district.

"Police seized ATM cards and mobile phone SIM cards linked to various bank accounts from Lodhi and Sharma," Yadav said.

He said the interrogation of Lodhi and Sharma led the police to Sanjeev Arora in Delhi, and Rishi Kapoor and Lakhan Thakur in Jabalpur.

The accused are booked under section 318 (4) (cheating), 61 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for criminal conspiracy, he said.