LUDHIANA: The CIA-I has busted a racket of bookies with the arrest of five accused for betting on the ongoing series of five one-day matches between England and Australia in the wee hours of Friday, while three accused are still at large. The police have recovered eight mobile phones, a laptop, and one LCD screen from the accused. The accused have been arrested from a rented flat on Pakhowal Road, from where they used to run the racket.
The arrested accused have been identified as Amardeep Singh of Model Town, Sunny Kumar of
Abohar, Harvinder Singh Shanty of Model Town, Mohammad Azad and Mohammad Asfab – both residents of Madhubani in
Bihar. The absconding accused are Shalu, Shammi, and Bittu. Deputy commissioner of police (DCP-Crime) Gaganajit Singh said Amardeep was the kingpin of the racket, while Harvinder was his key accomplice. Police, in the late hours of Thursday, conducted a raid on Omaxe flats, and arrested the accused for placing bets on matches.
The official added that the accused were accepting bets on mobile phones, and keeping its record in a laptop. In the investigation, the police found the accused had procured mobile phone connections using fake identity proofs. A case under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 13-A, 3, 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against the accused at Sadar police station.
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