Pune: India-England Cricket Match Betting Racket Busted, 33 Bookies Arrested By Pimpri Chinchwad Police

Mubarak Ansari

Pune, 27 March 2021: Pimpri Chinchwad police busted a bookies’ den near the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) ground in Gahunje on Friday night. Police said that the gang took advantage of the 6 to 13 seconds delay in the telecast of the India-England cricket match to gamble.

A team under the guidance of Police Commissioner Krishna Prakash raided three places during the match. The cops had raided Ghorvadeshwar Dongar, the building under construction adjacent to the International Cricket Ground at Gahunje, and a five-star hotel in Pune. Police have arrested thirty-three bookies and seized laptops, binoculars, foreign currency and other valuables, totally worth Rs 45 lakh.

The England cricket team is currently on a tour of India and has come to Pune for ODIs after playing Tests and T20s. The teams will play at the MCA ground in Gahunje. The ground is adjacent to the Pune-Mumbai Expressway and is an uninhabited place. To take advantage of this, bookies from five to six states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Goa arrived in Pune.

According to police, the bookies reached Pune by flight, train, and some in their luxury cars. Ghodaveshwar Dongar, near the ground and the building under construction, were selected, while a few bookies were stationed in a five-star hotel for betting. The bookies on the hill and the ground under construction were carrying binoculars and photo cameras. They used binoculars and a camera to see what was happening on each ball on the field. The match on the field was telecast 6 to 13 seconds late on mobile and TV.

Police said that the bookies used to place online bets, and they already knew what would happen on the next ball. The officials from Wakad police station learned about it; three squads were formed under the supervision of DCP (Zone 2) Anant Bhoite and Senior Police Inspector Vivek Muglikar and raids were conducted at the three places simultaneously.