Cuttack: At least seven people were arrested Friday for allegedly black marketeering of tickets for the upcoming One Day International (ODI) between India and England at Barabati stadium in Cuttack, police said.
Cuttack DCP Jagmohan Meena said that the police have seized 25 gallery tickets, cash worth Rs 30,000, some mobile phones and motorcycles from the possession of the seven arrested persons.
At least four FIRs were registered with Darghabazar police station and Cantonment police station in this regard, he said.
Police said three men were selling eight gallery tickets for the match at higher prices in Darghabazar police station area. They had even posted photographs of the tickets online and sought a response from prospective buyers.
The police nabbed them while they were handing over the tickets to a person in Buxi Bazaar area of the city. The man purchasing the tickets also told the police that he was availing the tickets at higher prices due to the unavailability of tickets for the Sunday match.
Similarly, Cantonment Police also arrested four other persons for their alleged involvement in the sale of match tickets in the black market. They were selling tickets worth Rs 1,100 for Rs 7,000 each.
While Barabati stadium has a capacity of 45,000 seats, only 24,000 tickets have been released to the public and the remaining 21,000 tickets have been distributed among VIPs and VVIPs, sources said.
On Wednesday, a stampede-like situation was witnessed outside the Barabati stadium gate with a large number of people queuing to buy offline tickets from the counters.
The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) functionaries were not immediately available to comment on the matter.
PTI
