Machilipatnam: 18-member cricket betting gang held

Machilipatnam: Krishna district police arrested 18 members of cricket betting gang and seized Rs6.45 lakh, 17 cell phones, laptops and other materials used for the betting.

The inter-district cricket betting gang is operating from Krishna and Prakasam districts and trying to trap the gullible youth and cricket fans.

Krishna district superintendent of police M Ravindranath Babu on Sunday told the media persons in Machilipatnam that Mogilisetty Venkateswarlu of Nuzvid rural areas is the main accused and the admin of the betting gang. He gave the details of the arrests and seizure of cash and mobiles.

With IPL matches season is continuing, the district police are keeping vigil on the suspected bookies and punters. On receiving the information, the Nuzvid police along with the Special Branch police conducted raid at Potireddypalem village near Nuzvid and took the main accused Mogilisetty Venkateswarlu into custody. During the course of investigation, the police came to know that 17 other sub-agents also involved in cricket match betting in Krishna and Prakasam districts. The SP said the cricket betting gang dupe the gullible people and youth and trap them to join the betting. He warned stern action would be taken against the cricket betting gangs and appealed to the youth not to lose money in cricket betting. He said the accused are from Kandukuru, Jaggaiahpet, Nuzvid and other places. He said another accused Rohan had created an app and he would be arrested soon. He said the payments were made on Google Pay, PayTM and online apps. The gang was booked under the Section 3 and 4 of the Gaming Act of 1974.

Under the supervision of Nuzvid DSP B Srinivasulu, the Nuzvid circle inspector Ramachandra Rao and Sub-inspector Ranjit Kumar, Special Branch sub-inspector of police JV Ramana Rao participated in the investigation and nabbed the accused. SP Ravindranath Babu congratulated the Nuzvid and SB police for arresting the betting gang.