In a huge success against illegal betting services, the Maharashtra Cyber Cell has arrested Gulam Abbas Muni, who is an employee of illegal betting platform Fairplay, for illegally streaming the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 matches, reported The Times of India.
The investigation in the matter began a month back when Viacom 18 filed a copyright case against Fairplay for streaming IPL 2023 without a license, causing the former losses worth over Rs 100 crore.
At the time, the police had registered a case under criminal conspiracy and relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act and Copyright Acts. The police also questioned multiple Bollywood celebrities including Sanjay Dutt, Jacqueline Fernandez, Tamanna Bhatia, Tamanna Khan, Badshah, influencer Suhana Khan, and Amyra Dastur.
Responding to the queries, Sanjay Dutt, Jacqueline Fernandez and Badshah revealed that they had contracts with advertisement agencies and were aware of Fairplay’s illegal activities. Further investigation revealed that the advertisement agencies were approached by Muni who struck the respective deals.
The matches were also broadcasted on several other illegal streaming platforms. Taking action against this, the police filed a case under relevant sections. These services also used Google AdSense to display advertisements to the viewers in order to earn money.
The police probe has revealed that this money has gone into the bank account of Rashid and Juned from Rahim Yar Khan district of Pakistan.
Rampant unchecked celebrity promotions
Many other actors were also questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for their involvement in promoting various illegal betting platforms. These betting platforms have been using these celebrities to lure in more people.
Despite multiple advisories from the government, these advertisements are still aired on multiple platforms with celebrities claiming that an illegal betting platforms is safe and trusted.