Pune: Bar owner arrested for running illegal IPL betting ring

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The IPL season is at its peak and the bookies all around India are trying to profit off from the most popular sport in India. Among this, the police have booked the owner of ‘Plunge – The Kitchen and Bar’ for running a betting racket and scamming people.

According to the police, the bets were facilitated using mobile applications and a 10 percent commission was also paid to the bookies.

The arrest was made working on a tip-off received by anti-extortion cell of the Pune crime branch about people providing betting facilities on IPL matches at the bar. The police raided the bar and arrested three bookies on Saturday.

The arrested individuals were identified as Vasim Shaikh, Ikrama Mulla and Musabin Bashaib. The police also seized five cell phones one laptop and a diary containing notes.

Arrested individuals were also taking to another person on phone which was revealed to be Jitesh Mehta. Following the information, the police also booked Mehta along with Akshay Tiwari.

“When we raided the spot, three suspects were chatting on mobile. They were betting on a website and at the same time, chatting with a person too. It was revealed that the number belonged to Jitesh Mehta,” said Deputy Commissioner of police Amol Zende to Pune Mirror.

“The master ID of the cricket betting website was with him. He had provided links to other accused and used to pay them 10 percent commission on each bet via Google Pay. He would keep an eye on the betting ring,” he added.

All the arrested individuals are registered under section 420 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act. Other states are also facing similar problems in regard to IPL betting and gambling.

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