On Saturday, the CBI said that it had booked seven suspected punters in connection with two separate cases involving alleged fixing of IPL matches “based on inputs” from Pakistan.
They reported that the central agency began a nationwide investigation and was conducting searches at seven locations in Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Jodhpur.
The Indian Premer League (IPL) matches are allegedly influenced by a network of individuals involved in cricket betting, according to the FIRs.
The CBI has identified two persons living in Rohini, Delhi, and two individuals living in Hyderabad as accused in its first FIR, while Sajjan Singh, Prabhu Lal Meena, Ram Avtar, and Amit Kumar Sharma, all based in Rajasthan, have been identified as suspects in its second FIR.
The Rajasthan racket has allegedly been operating since 2010, while another has been ongoing since 2013, according to the report.
They alleged that the networks based on Pakistani inputs cheated the public by “inducing them to bet”.
In connivance with the unknown bank officials, the racketeers have bank accounts (mule accounts) that use fake identities and KYC documents.
The bank officials did not perform due diligence on these accounts that were opened with forged information such as multiple dates of birth.
Using hawala transactions, a part of the money received from the general public in India is also being distributed to their associates based in foreign countries, according to the FIRs.
Dileep operated a number of bank accounts in which domestic cash deposits of more than Rs 43 lakh were made since 2013, officials said, defying “economic rationality.”
During 2012-20, the central agency also detected that cash deposits worth Rs 4.55 crore (domestic) and Rs 3.05 lakh (foreign) were made in six bank accounts operated by Gurram Satish. For Gurram Vasu, the amount is Rs 5.37 crore.
It is alleged by the CBI that accounts do not have any recognizable business rationale.
There is evidence that these individuals were involved in cricket betting during the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches held in 2019.
“The persons involved are running the racket of cricket betting, committing fraud by inducing betting by the general public, deceiving the public of their hard-earned money, and impersonating their identities to operate bank accounts,” the FIR for Delhi-Hyderabad racket alleges.
