Deccan Chronicle

Uppal stadium betting busted

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THE DUO was giving the exact status of each ball to the bookie, while the same ball would be transmitte­d on television after a short delay.

An online betting racket being operating from within the Rajiv Gandhi Internatio­nal Stadium at Uppal during the ongoing T20 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings was busted by Rachakonda Special Operations team on Sunday.

Two persons operating the betting in coordinati­on with a bookie based in Rajasthan were caught. The two men arrested told the police that they had travelled to the city from Rajasthan only to operate the betting. The police seized `15,500 in cash and two mobiles used for the operation from their possession.

The two have been identified as Sourabh Kumar Maheshwari, 31, and Ashwin Gandhi, 35, both from Rajasthan.

According to the police, the two men admitted that they had been organising betting operations for all IPL matches from the stadiums, while the match is in progress, and shared ball to ball details with bookies in Rajasthan. However, they did not reveal the names of the bookies.

noticed the two men acting suspicious­ly and kept a watch on them for some time before alerting the Special Operations Team, which entered the stadium and apprehende­d them. The police had banned mobiles in the stadium during matches, but the ban was lifted last year.

Checking of their mobile phones revealed that the two were organising the betting of the match by sharing ball to ball details with the bookie who changed the stakes according to the informatio­n received from the stadium.

Additional DCP of the SOT, Syed Rafeeq, said that the crooks took advantage of the one-anda-half ball time gap from match at the stadium to the live transmissi­on on television networks.

"They were giving the exact status of each ball to the bookie, while the same ball would be transmitte­d on television after a short delay. As per the status, the bookie changed the stakes and collected amounts from different persons." he said.

The two men arrived in the city on Sunday morning and stayed at a hotel till the match began. They were to leave the city immediatel­y after the match. A man who allegedly kidnapped a 17-year-old girl from her residence in Narayangud­a, was arrested by the police on Sunday. The accused was identified as Md Jameel, 21, an electricia­n from Himyatnaga­r.

The accused had promised to marry the girl and took her away from her residence without her parents’ knowledge, ” Narayangud­a SI B. Raju said. The girl’s father lodged a complaint with the police which traced her on Saturday. The accused was sent in judicial remand.

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