New IPL season brings new technology to aid organised betting

New Delhi: As a new season of the Indian Premier League is underway, betting season has started in the Capital; this time more organised than ever, using software for maintaining database of illegal money used for betting in the tournament. The revelations came to light after Delhi Police arrested three men from Shahdara on Saturday.

The accused were identified as Nikhil Goyal, Dheeraj and Shekhar Gandhi, all residents of Shahdara district.

Police also recovered 11 mobile phones and one laptop from the house where the trio was arrested.

Law enforcement officials have been conducting a drive at more than seven places in the district for a week to crack down on the illegal gambling network.

"Gandhi was previously involved in a snatching case," said a police official.

An investigator told Millennium Post that the gang was using betting assistant software to maintain records of the clients involved in the illegal business.

"In this software, the accused would enter names of the people who were calling them to place bets. The software maintained the record of the money trail of every person," said the investigator, adding that the software did not require a lot of manpower and could be easily handled by one person.

The arrests were made by Shahdara district police and no money was recovered from the accused.

"There is a possibility that on match day, they did not keep money and the next day, sent their collection agents to different people for collection. Another possibility is that the accused wanted to take or give money after the tournament. We are investigating from all angles and things will be clear out once the probe is over," said the police official.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Nupur Prasad said they have launched a drive against gambling, during which as many as 50 persons have been arrested from several areas.

"During the drive, a total of 50 gamblers were arrested by Shahdara district police, within a week and Rs. 58,100 was recovered, along with betting articles, from their possession. In this regard, total 11 cases have been registered in Shahdara District," said the DCP.

Sources claimed that more than seven places were identified and the raid led to immediate arrests.