Delhi Police has busted an alleged betting syndicate operating during the ongoing Cricket world Cup with the arrest of a 57-year-old man who had set up a control room with 110 mobile phones at his home and was relaying ball-by-ball betting rates to bookies.
The accused, identified as Shanti Swaroop Bhatia, a resident of Paschim Vihar, was arrested by a team of Crime Branch following a tip off. He was nabbed on Thursday red-handed during the India-Bangladesh Quarter Final cricket match, police said.
Bhatia received rates from Mumbai which in turn came from Dubai. He was charging Rs 3000 per line from bookies who took bets from common people. He had leased 110 lines and was earning Rs 6 lakh per match. He had been in this business in the last 10 years, sources said.
Police had received a tip off that Bhatia would provide live betting rates through mobile phones during the match from his house.
After verification, a raiding party led by DCP Dinesh Kumar Gupta and comprising of ACP Rajeev Kumar Ambasta and other officials was constituted to nab him red handed.
"A raid was conducted at the given place where Bhatia was found operating the system in which he had set up mobile phones in an Almirah in such a way that his voice was audible to all phones installed in the small wooden fixings. He was found announcing the rates of betting on them after receiving the same from a Main Line Provider source," said Joint commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.
Bhatia was receiving the rates through his mobile phone connected to his head gear. After sustained interrogation, he disclosed that he continuously gets updated rates on each ball of match from the main line provider and the same was promptly communicated to all punters/bookies connected to him through mobile phones.
110 mobile phones, 109 ear phones, two set top boxes, 81 mobile chargers, a laptop, an LCD screen and two set top boxes were recovered from him, Yadav said.
