Online betting racket busted: Hyderabad cop kept watch on duo, alerted SOT

Hyderabad: An online betting racket being operatied from within the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal during the ongoing T20 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings was busted by Rachakonda Special Operations team on Sunday.

A constable on duty inside the stadium noticed the two men acting suspiciously and kept a watch on them for some time before alerting the Special Operations Team, which entered the stadium and apprehended them. The police had banned mobiles in the stadium during matches, but the ban was lifted last year.

Checking of their mobile phones revealed that the two were organising the betting of the match by sharing ball to ball details with the bookie who changed the stakes according to the information received from the stadium.

Additional DCP of the SOT, Syed Rafeeq, said that the crooks took advantage of the one-and-a-half ball time gap from match at the stadium to the live transmission on television networks.

"They were giving the exact status of each ball to the bookie, while the same ball would be transmitted on television after a short delay. As per the status, the bookie changed the stakes and collected amounts from different persons." he said.

The two men arrived in the city on Sunday morning and stayed at a hotel till the match began. They were to leave the city immediately after the match.