Delhi Crime Branch Busts Multi-State Cricket Betting Racket, Mastermind Arrested

In a significant breakthrough, the Delhi Police Crime Branch dismantled a multi-state cricket betting racket, arresting ten individuals, including the mastermind, from a rented flat in Karol Bagh. The accused were allegedly placing illegal bets on the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) matches in Australia.

Acting on a tip-off, a team led by Inspector Satendra Mohan and supervised by ACP Ramesh Chander Lamba raided the flat on December 21, 2024. The raid occurred during a live BBL match between the Hobart Hurricanes and Perth Scorchers.

The police caught the accused red-handed, using laptops, mobile phones, and other equipment to place bets. Seized items included five laptops, 14 mobile phones, a smart TV, five notepads, and betting logs. The group also facilitated offline betting, recording wagers manually in notebooks.

The investigation revealed that the accused operated online via a betting website and offline through manual entries. Jagrit Sahni, one of the accused, held a master ID on JMD Sports.com, which he used to create sub-IDs sold to punters.

Profits from bets were split between the master ID holder and the punters. The group had been operating for over a year, conducting daily transactions of approximately ₹1.5 lakh, with profits ranging between ₹30,000 and ₹40,000.

Mastermind and Team Arrested

The mastermind, Raju Vaishnav, a goldsmith from Karol Bagh, orchestrated the network by bringing together individuals from different states. The arrested individuals include:

• Ajay Kumar (cloth shop owner, Delhi)
• Yogesh Taneja and Tarun Khanna (former medical shop workers, Agra)
• Manish Jain (gas stove dealer, Jaipur)
• Kushal and Gautam Das (mobile shop owners, Rajasthan)
• Parvesh Kumar (tailor, Delhi)
• Harvinder Deol (mobile shop owner, Agra)
• Jagrit Sahni (software expert, Delhi)

The Delhi Police has filed an FIR and is conducting further investigations into the racket, marking a major victory against illegal betting operations.