Major Breakthrough In IPL Betting Racket: Pune Crime Branch Exposes 30 New Cricket Betting IDs Linked To Prominent City Businessmen
Pune, 24th May 2023: The anti-extortion cell of the Pune Police Crime Branch has made significant headway in its investigation into online cricket betting, uncovering over 30 new cricket betting IDs allegedly operated by prominent businessmen in the city.
The probe has revealed a scheme where the accused and the ID users enticed individuals to engage in online betting through a mobile application, while also embezzling funds obtained from the illegal gambling activity.
On May 21, three bookies were apprehended by the anti-extortion cell from an upscale society in Kondhwa for facilitating betting on Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches through cellphone applications. The investigation revealed that Jitesh Mehta, the owner of the city-based Plunge Kitchen and Bar, along with Akshay Tiwari, a bookie from Madhya Pradesh, were allegedly the masterminds behind the online cricket betting racket.
The accused, including Wasim Shaikh (39) from Kondhwa, Ikrama Mulla (26) from Ghorpade Peth, and Musabin Bashaib (35), were remanded in police custody until Tuesday. Subsequently, they were produced before the court, where the police submitted the report on their interrogation and investigation.
Police Sub-Inspector Mohandas Jadhav said, “Shaikh deceived the government and the public by channeling the betting money to various individuals. Although some of the accused hailed from Indore, the arrested accused did not disclose their whereabouts during interrogation. It was also observed that all the accused utilized Google Pay for their transactions.”
The bank account of Akshay Tiwari has been frozen as part of the investigation.
Jadhav further added, “Investigation revealed that Tiwari and Mehta possessed the master IDs and distributed them to others who used those IDs for betting. They would set limits for betting on online applications. We have identified several prominent individuals involved in the racket.”
The arrest of the three accused on May 21 was made by a team led by ACP Satish Govekar, along with Police Sub-Inspector Mohandas Jadhav, Shankar Sampte, Sachin Ahiwale, and Pradeep Shitole. During the court proceedings yesterday, the police emphasized the need for custodial interrogation to investigate the accused individuals’ Google Pay accounts and to identify and investigate the extent of the embezzled funds. Consequently, the court extended the police custody of all three accused individuals until Saturday.
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