The alleged syndicate, led by one Shahnawaz, had been operating with around 50 betting 'punters' working from their hideouts at Patel Nagar, Okhla, Faridabad and several other locations. Each punter had around 150 regular clients for betting, said a police officer.
The syndicate was busted after a raid at a building in northeast Delhi's Bhajanpura area, where the accused were working in the garb of a call centre, said Sanjay Beniwal, Joint Commissioner of Police (East).
The accused who were arrested after the raid have been identified as Sunil Kumar (24), Shakeel (18), Shahrukh (19), Arshad (19), Nazeem (21), Hashib (32), Mohd. Imtiaz (19), Varun (22) and Hassan (38). The police recovered around Rs 13.60 lakh, several mobile phones and two laptops from their possession, Beniwal added.
It is also suspected that the syndicate used to manipulate the system and made sure that the winning numbers were those with the lowest stake on it, said a police officer.
The police also suspects that the syndicate is linked with similar gambling rackets being run from certain parts of Haryana and Punjab.