IPL betting gang busted, 3 men held in Varanasi

VARANASI: Special Task Force busted an IPL betting racket by arresting three persons in Sonderpur area here on Tuesday. An SUV and Rs 27.75 lakh cash was recovered from the gang led by one Ajay Singh, who posed himself as owner of a news portal.


STF Varanasi field unit in charge Vinod Singh said, “Apart from Ajay, four other members of the gang are absconding and raids are being conducted to nab them.”

As a part of a statewide operation, STF raided a place in Nevada Sunderpur area of Varanasi on Tuesday late evening. During the raid, the STF team led by Inspector Vipin Rai succeeded in arresting Ashok Singh alias Chaha, Sunil Pal and Vikky Khan. Four other members, who managed to escape, were identified as Sunny, Shahanshah, Anand and Chandan.

STF recovered Rs 27.75 lakh cash, six mobile phones and a diary containing details of the people involved in betting during IPL matches through this gang, said officials. The arrested trio divulged the name of their gang leader as Ajay Singh. They said that Ajay owned a news portal and the logo of the portal was also displayed on his SUV. Officials said the gang leader managed to escape before the cops raided his place.

STF officials said on the basis of inputs of largescale IPL betting, a statewide drive was launched in which STF teams raided gangs in Kanpur and Varanasi on Tuesday. In Kanpur, the STF busted the office of this gang, which operated like an exchange. Compared to Kanpur office, the Varanasi office in Sunderpur Nevada area had a small setup, they added.

STF officials said that the mastermind of the gang is Jitendra alias Jitu of Kanpur, who had made huge money through betting in Gulf. Later, Jitu returned to India and started operating betting rackets by changing locations in Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra, Allahabad and Fatehpur.