Kochi: The Kochi City Police has arrested three youths for unauthorised sale of ISL tickets for Sunday's final at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium at exorbitant prices. The accused were identified as Mustafa (19) of Malappuram, Gladin (22) of Kangarappady and Praveen (21) of Neendakara. "They were selling tickets of Rs 300 for prices ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. They had procured bulk volume of tickets and posted messages on their Facebook pages seeking potential customers. The trio have been booked under 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 427 (Mischief causing damages) of IPC and will be produced before a magistrate on Sunday," police said.
"There have been reports about tickets being sold at inflated prices. Based on this input, cops in plainclothes have been deployed at various locations including premises of the international stadium here," said Arul R.B. Krishna, deputy commissioner of police, Kochi city. Despite the police action, stadium premises have turned into a veritable market place since Friday. "Black marketers are moving among the large number of soccer fans running from pillar to post desperate for tickets. The transactions are done in a flash that even the cops will be unable to notice them," said one fan.
