CBI to investigate pan-India IPL betting, a match-fixing racket with Pak links
Officials stated Saturday that the CBI has arrested seven suspected bettors in two different cases involving alleged match-fixing in the 2019 Indian Premier League “based on tips” from Pakistan.
According to them, the central agency has launched a nationwide investigation and is conducting searches at seven locations in Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Jodhpur.
According to the FIRs, the agency found that “a network of individuals involved in cricket betting are affecting the outcome of Indian Premier League (IPL) matches based on information received from Pakistan.”
In the first FIR, the CBI listed Dileep Kumar, of Rohini, Delhi, and Gurram Vasu and Gurram Satish, of Hyderabad, as accused, while the second FIR mentioned Sajjan Singh, Prabhu Lal Meena, Ram Avtar, and Amit Kumar Sharma, all of Rajasthan.
According to them, one racket has been operating out of Rajasthan since 2010, while another has been running since 2013.
They said that networks acting on Pakistani inputs were also defrauding the public by “inducing them to bet.”
According to them, the racketeers have bank accounts (mule accounts) with bogus identities and know your customer (KYC)documents, which they obtained with the help of unknown bank staff.
“These bank accounts were opened using fabricated information, such as various dates of birth, and without the bank’s due diligence.”
The FIRs claim that “a portion of the money acquired from the general people in India on account of such betting activities is also shared with their friends based in foreign nations utilising hawala transactions.”
Officials said the CBI discovered Dileep was operating a number of bank accounts in which domestic cash deposits totaling over Rs 43 lakh had been made since 2013, confounding “economic logic.”
The central agency also discovered that during 2012-20, cash deposits totalling Rs 4.55 crore (domestic) and Rs 3.05 lakh (international) were made in Gurram Satish’s six bank accounts amount for Gurram Vasu was Rs 5.37 crore.
The CBI claims that the transactions in the accounts have no discernible commercial rationale.
“According to the information, this group of people was involved in cricket betting during the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.”
“The persons involved are running a cricket betting racket, committing fraud by inducing public betting and thus defrauding the public of their hard-earned money, and also indulging in impersonating their identities in operating various bank accounts,” according to the FIR related to the Delhi-Hyderabad racket.
THE OFFICERS SAID THE CBI HAS ALLEGED THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE CASH TRANSACTIONS IN THESE ACCOUNTS ARE OF A PAN-INDIAN NATURE, WHICH SUPPORTS THE SUMMARY THAT THESE UNUSUAL FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS ARE LINKED.
The CBI discovered that the Rajasthan racket was reportedly sharing a portion of the money acquired from the general population in India through betting activities with colleagues in foreign nations via hawala transactions, although the modus operandi remained similar to the Delhi-Hyderabad group.
The CBI claims that accused Singh, Meena, Ram Avtar, and Sharma were in contact with a Pakistani suspect who called them and several unknown Indians through a Pakistani phone number +9233222226666.
The FIR said that “the information suggests that the aforesaid accused persons are part of a network engaged in illegal cricket betting activities.”
In records given to UCO Bank, Singh’s accounts reflect three distinct dates of birth.
“The accounts’ transactions are circular in nature. From fiscal years 2010-11 to 2019-20, the suspicious amount credited in Sajjan Singh’s account was more than Rs.33.23 lakhs.
“According to the information, this network of individuals was involved in cricket betting during the then-ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) Matches held in Delhi and other locations in the year 2019,” the FIR claimed.
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