Hyderabad cops bust mega cricket betting rackets, arrest three men

Hyderabad: The Commissioner’s Task Force (CTF) (South) team busted two cricket betting rackets allegedly run by two persons from Shahinayathgunj and Mangalhat and seized Rs 2.94 lakh cash and mobilephones from them.

On a tip-off, the police raided a house at Mangalhat and caught Venkatesh Maharaj Parashar, 44, at Aghapura, who was allegedly using three mobile phones and accepting bets on cricket matches. The police seized Rs 1.47 lakh and four mobile phones from him.

The team then caught on Jitesh Gandhi of Begum Bazaar under Shahinyathgunj police limits while he was accepting bets on two mobile phones via an app. Police said he was giving the money to one Rajesh of Mumbai.

The police found out that they were placing bets on teams, the outcome of the match, individual sessions, on overs, and particular deliveries and on player.

In Chappal Bazaar, the Commissioner’s Task Force (Central) team raided Raj Estates and arrested Arun Kumar Rathi, 54, while he was accepting bets on Tuesday’s IPL match. Officials sezied three phones, three paper chits and Rs 21,000 from his possession, said Task Force DCP P. Radha Krishna.  The DCP said Rathi was a habitual offender and was earlier arrested by the Kachiguda and Chaderghat police for accepting bets.