Hyderabad: Android mobile applications came in handy for two siblings who were running a cricket betting racket in Hyderabad.
The duo hail from Charminar and used the Cricket Exchange mobile application to fix rates for betting. They also accepted only online payments to avoid the police radar. They have been arrested thrice previously.
The Cyberabad Special Operations Team, Shamshabad apprehended four persons Ankith Agarwal, 28, and his younger brother Mohith Agarwal, 25, both residents of Ghansi Bazaar, and their aides Yasmin Mahesh, 44, of Jeedimetla and Rohith Agarwal, 27, a jeweller from Ghansi Bazaar for organising bets from an apartment in Rajendranagar on Saturday night.
Shamshabad DCP N. Prakash Reddy said that in view of the ongoing cricket matches, including the Big Bash League at Australia, cops were on the lookout for people organising bets and busted the racket. “The police apprehended the four accused from a room at Aramghar and seized Rs 5.01 lakh cash, eight mobile phones and stationery used during the offence,” he said.
The DCP said that Ankith and Mohith have been organising bets since 2016. They were arrested in 2016 by the Sultan Bazaar police and in April 2018 by the Rajendranagar police.
In November 2018, the Marredpally police arrested Ankith, but Mohith went absconding.
“Since the beginning of the Big Bash League, Ankith and Mohith started betting again. They employed Mahesh as a cash collection agent and Rohith as a sub-organiser. The accused decided scores using the application based on live trends,” the DCP added.
They decide the percentage of loss and gains to the punters and the cash transactions of these illegal transactions were largely online payments, but in some cases of old customers it was cash,” said DCP Prakash Reddy.
He said that it was observed the police that several youngsters were indulging in cricket betting and losing huge amounts.
