The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): Lucknow police have apprehended a group of 12 bookies operating from a flat in the SBI Enclave, Sushant Golf City area, Lucknow. The arrests were made in connection with online betting activities related to IPL matches and linked to operations in Dubai.
According to officials, the bookies were conducting their entire business through the Telegram app. The police conducted the operation on Sunday, seizing 45 mobile phones, five laptops, and various other items from the location. Additionally, around Rs 10 lakh was discovered in half a dozen bank accounts belonging to the accused, which have been frozen by the authorities.
DCP South, Tej Swaroop Singh, stated that they received information about the online betting activities taking place in a flat within the SBI Enclave. Acting on this information, a police team raided the premises and arrested the 12 individuals. Among the items seized were mobile phones, laptops, tablets, cheque books, passbooks, and identification documents.
The arrested individuals, aged between 19 to 29 years, were identified as Rohan Gop, Ashish Kumar Singh, Shubham Kumar, Jackie Kumar, Vijay Vawri, Prabhat Kumar, Rahul Rai, Bittu Kumar Shah, Rahul Kumar, Deepak Sharma, Eklavya Kumar Nishad, and Vijay Kumar.
DCP South also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for the police team involved in apprehending the bookies.
ADCP South, Shashank Singh, revealed that the fraudsters were operating the betting business online, contacting clients through the Telegram app. They would then send QR codes for transactions, through which people would send money. The bookies would invest this money in IPL matches, with investors receiving online points that could be cashed out at any time. Investigations have uncovered that the bookies’ network extends to Bengaluru, Chandigarh, and Kolkata.
Currently, Rs 10 lakh of fraudulent transactions have been discovered across different bank accounts of the accused, all of which have been frozen. ADCP South mentioned that 25 complaints have been registered against the accused on the NCRB portal as part of the ongoing investigation.