Kuanrmunda: Acting on a tip-off, a special squad of Biramitrapur police station and Kuanrmunda outpost here in Sundargarh district busted an IPL betting racket and arrested nine persons on charge of involvement in illegal betting for the ongoing IPL matches, Saturday night.
The accused were identified as Malit Singh, 25, Vishal Rai, 18, Himanshu Debangan, 25, Pankaj Debangan, 22, Bikash Thakur, 23, Minu Singh, 21, Dinesh Kumar Sahoo, 28, Vikramjit Singh, 19, and Jogendra Singh, 22 — all from Durg district of neighbouring Chhattisgarh. At least 18 expensive mobile phones were seized from their possession including one tablet and a laptop.
This was stated by Biramitrapur SDPO Manas Ranjan Pradhan and Manoj Manjari Nayak, IIC of Biramitrapur police station at a press meet held at the Kuanrmunda police outpost, Sunday. The accused were taken for a medical examination and later produced in court. The accused have been booked under sections 294 (A)/420/120(B)/34 of IPC and sections 4/5 of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes Act, 1978.
The breakthrough came when the special squad raided a house at Jamunanaki Jhara slum under Kuanrmunda police outpost. There the squad found some youths who had opened an online lottery office and allegedly were betting money on the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. The accused youths were also found to be instigating others to bet their money by luring them with attractive prizes and offers. SDPO Pradhan, IIC Nayak and Kuanrmunda OIC Shyamlal Oram participated in the raid.