Hyderabad: The Rachakonda Special Operation Team (SOT) bust an interstate cricket betting racket that was being operated from a house in Jawaharnagar, on Sunday night. Police arrested four persons and seized over Rs 3 lakh in cash. The arrested have been identified as K. Nagaraju, Bhishma Reddy, who works as a teacher at a private school, N. Suresh, and Srinivas Reddy. The kingpin of the racket and two other bookies are absconding.
G. Naveen Kumar, Inspector of the Rachakonda SOT, says that the racket was being operated by kingpin Varaprasad, along with his associates K. Nagaraju and Ramaraju. They have been bookies for at least past three years, and their business runs into several lakhs of rupees. The gang has a wide network spread across both states. They frequently change their location, based on tip offs regarding police movements. They have been operating from Kompally, Pet Basheerabad, Jawahar Nagar in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhimavaram, Rajamahendravaram, and Vizag.
“The bookies operate the racket in an organised way. Much before the start of cricket season, they procure prepaid SIM cards using fake identity documents to be used for betting. They even have bank accounts to transfer betting amounts,” Mr Naveen Kumar says. The mobile numbers are switched on minutes before the match begins, and are switched off as soon as the match ends. “The bet amount is conveyed by the main organisers who usually sit in Mumbai. A part of the amount is collected and paid in cash, and the rest is transferred through online transactions,” he says.
The police have arrested four members of the gang, and have seized Rs 3.31 lakh in cash, one laptop, and nine mobiles. The hunt for the absconding bookies is on.
