Lucknow police arrest 12 bookies for running online betting on IPL matches

Lucknow: The Lucknow police apprehended 12 bookies from an apartment in SBI Enclave in Sushant Golf City, here on Sunday. Officials said they had connection to Dubai and ran their operation through the Telegram app, focusing on IPL matches.

The police seized 45 mobile phones, five laptops and other items from the location. They also discovered Rs 10 lakh in half a dozen bank accounts, now frozen. The betting activities were being run from Dubai.

DCP South, Tej Swaroop Singh, received a tip-off about online IPL betting at SBI Enclave. A police team raided the site, arresting the 12 individuals.

The accused, aged between 19 to 29 years, were identified as Rohan Gop, Ashish Kumar Singh, Shubham Kumar, and others. DCP announced a Rs 25,000 reward for the arresting team.

ADCP South Shashank Singh revealed that the fraudsters conducted their betting business online, using Telegram for communication and sending QR codes for transactions. Victims invested money for IPL matches, earning online points that could be cashed out later.

Investigations suggest the bookies’ network extends to Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Kolkata. So far, 25 complaints have been registered against them on the NCRB portal.

(with agency inputs)