Berhampur/Bhawanipatna: While online betting on the IPL cricket matches is reportedly rampant in most parts of south Odisha, police Tuesday arrested six persons from here in Ganjam and Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district. Police also seized over Rs 5 lakh in cash from their possession. The accused arrested from Berhampur were identified as the kingpin Dipu Nahak, 32, Kitu Rout, 36, Ashwini Kumar Patra, 31, Prashant Kumar Sahu, 38, and Gopinath Maharana, 28.
All were produced in court later in the day. Addressing a presser here, Berhampur SP D Saravana Vivek M said Rs 4.56 lakh in cash, a car, gold jewellery weighing 203.96 gram and nine cellphones were seized from their possession. Town SDPO Bishunprasad Pati said the kingpin of the racket, a stockist, will be taken on remand for further interrogation.
Prima facie, police found that Dipu had been running the IPL betting racket through five websites and different user IDs and passwords by engaging some bookies. It was also learnt that the racket has links with people outside the state. This racket became active as soon as the IPL matches started, said the police. In previous years, police had busted several IPL betting rackets in Ganjam.
Police had busted such a racket December 29, 2021. The kingpin R Lali Achari and his aide Prashant Kumar Subuddhi were arrested. Later, 12 members of the racket were nabbed in a phased manner. Many bank accounts of Achari were also frozen, said the SP. In the second instance, acting on a tip-off, Dharmagarh police in Kalahandi district busted a similar betting racket in the town and arrested a youth, police said Tuesday.
The accused identified as Rakesh Ranjan Choudhury was produced in the court, Tuesday, Dharmagarh IIC Deepanjali Pradhan said. The arrest came after intelligence inputs about an active IPL betting racket at Kendumundipada of the town. A police team led by DSP Dhiraj Kumar Chopdar raided the place and arrested Choudhury.
Seven mobile phones, Rs 70,000 in cash, laptop, cash counting machine, a car and other incriminating materials were seized from the spot, said the IIC. Police are verifying the bank accounts of Choudhury and his relatives as it is suspected that the betting racket might have a wider network. Further investigation is on, the IIC added.
