Cricket betting racket busted in Punjab

Sangrur, Apr 15 (UNI) The Punjab Police today busted a cricket betting racket in Barnala town and arrested six people in this connection.

Police officials here said the six were arrested while gambling at the cricket stadium in Barnala. The police recovered Rs 40,000 in cash from the spot and later on the cops recovered 11 mobile telephone sets and a car.

The officials claimed that the six were working for a Panchukla based bookie identified as Rajesh Kumar. They contacted cricket lovers on the telephone and would urge them to place bets on the onging World Cup matches and would even offer expert advice on the likely trend of the matches.

Police said the Panchkula-based bookie would give each of the six a percentage of the money collected through bets. The arrested persons have been identified as Kuldip Kumar, Bhushan, Praveen, Vijay, Raju and Kasturi, all residents of Barnala.

They were arrested under sections 420, 120 B and 109 of the IPC and the Gambling Act.

While scanning through the seized mobile sets, the police came across numbers listed in New Delhi, Panchkula, Abohar and Barnala. A special team has been formed to investigate the case further.

UNI