Mumbai cops bust online IPL betting racket in Kandivli; nab 5 bookies

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The Mumbai crime branch has arrested five bookies involved in an online betting racket linked to the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) from a flat in Kandivli, DCP (detection) Akbar Pathan said.

They have been identified as Abdul Kadri, 28, Milind Soni, 29, Manoj Lotalikar, 25, Roni Raichura, 34 and Yusuf Sumra, 51. Some of them are resident of Mumbai, while others hail from Rajkot and Delhi.

Also Read: Mumbai Crime: Three arrested for taking bets on IPL match in Thane

The police suspect that businessmen and people from the Indian film industry and the underworld were among those who had placed bets through the bookies' websites - diamondexch9.com and playwin247.com.

The police said they were aware that the bookies were dealing in crores of rupees every match of the 12th season of the T20 cricket league. The police raided their flat in Kandivli on Tuesday and seized 26 mobile phones, laptop, six card swipe machines, cash counting machine and over Rs 91,000.

An officer said, "The big players of the betting racket are hiding in Dubai. The entire money transfer was done through Hawala operators." The police said close to 1,000 people visited the websites. They have registered a case at Charkop police station under various sections of the IPC, and the Prevention of Gambling Act.

The police said the owner of the sites had appointed bookies at different locations across India and abroad. Those interested in placing bets contacted these bookies who then created a username and password for them. The money was transferred through hawala operators.

Also Read: Two arrested for cricket betting; Rs 3.69 lakh recovered

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