Five held for running IPLbetting racket at lodge

PUNE: The Pune rural police on Wednesday arrested five persons for taking bets on Indian Premier League cricket matches in a lodge at Khalapur in Raigad district.
A police team, led by assistant inspector Nilkanth Jagtap, recovered 11 cellphones, a laptop, a portable television set, Rs98,460 and a car, collectively worth Rs12.26 lakh.

Police identified the suspects as Vikram Jain (39) from Nigdi, Naresh Agarwal (47) from Talegaon, Navin Agarwal (41) from Dehu Road, Deepak Kriplani (43) from Chikhali and Nadim Pathat (28) of Akurdi.

Inspector Jagtap said the local crime branch received a tip-off about five men running a gambling racket and they were about to leave from Somatane Phata in a car. “A police team was sent to keep a watch on the car,” Jagtap said.

In the evening, the police team noticed the car heading towards Talegaon via Pune-Mumbai highway. “Our team chased it. The car eventually stopped in front of a lodge,” Jagtap said.

He said the team saw five men going inside the lodge with a TV and laptop. “We contacted the local crime branch of the Raigad police and sought their help,” Jagtap said.

“With a team of the Raigad police, we raided the lodge and caught five men accepting bets in one of the rooms of the lodge,” Jagtap said.

An offence under relevant sections of the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act and the Telegraph Act has been registered with the Khalapur police station against the suspects as well as the lodge manager, he added.