IPL sparks off betting boom in Jamshedpur, police on vigil   

Jamshedpur, May 26: As the grand finale of IPL 2022 inches closer, the city police have stepped up vigil on the betting activities. A senior police officer said many bookies were arrested from the city for betting on IPL matches in the last four years. The police also seized equipment including integrated call receiving systems, line mobile phones, and others during raids.

“We have received information that betting is at its peak in the city. Moreover, betting activities are not limited to the city now as the bookies are operating from rural areas of the district. A few years ago, the money was put on betting at the local level as the punters would divert huge transactions to major cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai,” said the police officer.

The city also witnessed dynamic betting. The bookies organised betting while moving from one place to another, as part of tactics to mislead the police and evade raids.  The city police also found betting being organised by individual houses in interior villages. The organisers would select thatched houses, cashew orchards to run their operations.

“We are maintaining a strict vigil on betting activities as every time the organisers come up with innovative ways to hoodwink the police. We are using technology to trace the betting organisers,” said a senior police officer.

He said mobile apps are being used to organise betting. “We have seen college goers fall into the trap of betting organisers. Parents should keep a watch on their children,” he added.

According to the people involved in the racket, they are making quick money in sport betting during the match. In IPL, bets are placed on wins, losses, runs per ball, final scores of teams or batsmen, how a batsman will get out, number of overs that each team will bowl, man of the match, third umpire decisions.

“It’s easy money that attracts these college and school kids. They place bets for as low as Rs 250. Apparently most of the bigger bookies have bases outside the city. Some of them operate from as far as New Delhi. It’s risky to operate within city limits. Yet, many operate below the legal radar to avoid paying taxes,” noted one of the bookie involved in the racket at Jugsalai 

Sources reveal that though bookies have been arrested on numerous occasions, there have been no convictions so far. Bookies also record phone conversations of punters (people who bet money) to make sure they don’t retract their orders. In spite of this, it’s difficult to nail them because most change their mobile numbers every few days, making it difficult to track their operations. A district official said that the administration is keeping an eye on the betting in the city and strict action will be taken against those involved.