Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, April 28
Following raids (during poll period) on persons moving around with over Rs 50,000 in cash, Dubai-based betting syndicates offering wagers on the ongoing IPL have taken the racket almost entirely online, allowing cashless transactions, according to the police.
According to officers of the Mumbai Crime Branch who stumbled upon the new methods of betting, gamblers are sent a link to download an app on their mobile phones that allows them to place bets during IPL matches.
“Hawala operators in major cities have been appointed agents by the owners of these websites. Bettors deposit a minimum of Rs 1 crore with these agents and are given points or tokens for placing bets,” explains a police official deputed at the Kandivli police station in suburban Mumbai where a betting racket was busted earlier this month.
He said most of the punters are high networth individuals, including diamond merchants and film producers, who have deposited crores well before the election schedule was announced. “The funds collected from the punters have already been sent abroad via the hawala route and winners have been promised payments after the end of polling in their cities,” the officer added.
Police officials said they arrested three persons collecting cash from some punters. These bookies were caught with crores delivered to them minutes before a police raid on a flat in Kandivli they were operating from. However, officials said, the three --- Abdul Kadri (28), Milind Soni (29), Manoj Lotalikar (25)--- were merely couriers whose job was to pass on the money to gang members.
According to investigators, bookies and the punters use WhatsApp and Telegram apps that have high levels of encryption which makes it difficult for chats to be hacked into. “Only by infiltrating into a group can a network be busted. But the group itself consists of 10 to 20 persons and there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of such groups,” the police official said.
With much of the betting business moving online, just about half-a-dozen betting rackets have been busted in Mumbai during the IPL season, according to officials.
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2GUboKJ
via Today’s News Headlines
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