Four Arrested as Betting Syndicate is Shut Down by CID

Story by Jack Howard on 2011-10-20 15:14:17

During the second One Day International between India and England four men were arrested in the state of Delhi for running a gambling ring. Deepak Mukhija (39), Punit Madan (29), Pramod Jain (44) and Sunil Kumar (33) were all taken into custody after being found running an illegal betting operation.

Police seized at least 10,000 Rupees in cash, 28 mobile phones, two laptops and a television. It is thought that they had received bets of over 1.35 crore rupees. Despite the fact that they claimed to be licensed bookmakers, they were arrested as it is illegal to bet in Delhi. The only states which allow gambling outside of the racetrack in India are Goa and Sikkim and even then gambling is regulated.

The four men all came from well off families and worked as property developers. It is a growing trend that illegal bookmakers come from educated backgrounds. Police have arrested 58 men since February for gambling and have noted that the majority are graduates and that they are often IT professionals. The reason for his may be that illegal bookmakers are increasingly using the internet and specialist gambling software to produce the odds on events and bookmakers need to be well educated to operate these systems.

Illegal bookmakers such as this are constantly having to compete with online betting firms such as bet365, who offer bets to Indian residents on line. However, there are still many in operation and two men, Punkaj Vij (38) and Ved Prakesh (43), were recently arrested during the Twenty20 Champions League game between Somerset and the Chevrolet Warriors.

The One Day International series between India and England has attracted a large amount of betting. Many bookmakers are offering odds on the games, including bet365 and William Hill.