STF arrests five for IPL betting; cash, Wi-Fi devices recovered

Kanpur: A Special Task Force (STF) team from Lucknow arrested five persons for betting on IPL matches in Y Block of Kidwainagar, Naubasta and Barra localities of the city on Tuesday late night.

The arrested persons have been identified as mastermind Jitendra alias Jeetu, Ashish, Sumit, Mohit and Himanshu. Police recovered Rs 2.75 lakh cash, five laptops, three smart TV sets, Wi-Fi devices, 30 mobile phones and 375 ‘dirham’ (UAE) currency from their possession. A Mercedes car and a Fortuner were also impounded. The men have reportedly confessed to betting on the ongoing IPL matches.

The Mercedes belongs to Jitendra, while Fortuner belongs to one Ajay Singh, another member of the gang who managed to flee during the raid.

“Investigations are underway to find out the involvement of others in this racket,” said STF ASP Pramesh Kumar Shukla, who led the raiding team.

“Jitendra along with his aide Himanshu was arrested from Barra area while his brother-in-law Ashish Shivhare, cousin Mohit Shivhare and his driver Sumit, all natives of Fatehpur, were arrested from Y Block of Kidwainagar. They have been booked under Section 13 of Prevention of Gambling Act besides sections of IPC and sent to jail. Ajay Singh, a native of Varanasi, managed to give police a slip,” Shukla added.

The five suspects have revealed their modus operandi. They claimed to have been running the racket since long. “Two conferencing devices fitted in two separate suitcases were also recovered from their possession. They took bets on an App downloaded in their mobile phones. They used to chat with 20 persons at one go with the help of conferencing devices fitted in a suitcase and equipped with a mike and recorder,” said Inspector Ghanshyam Yadav of STF’s Kanpur unit.

The kingpin Jitendra belongs to Shanti Nagar locality of Fatehpur. “He has a strong network in Mumbai, Ajmer, Raipur, Jaipur Delhi and even Dubai. He had earlier escaped to Dubai and took to trading of gold. Later, after obtaining enormous wealth through IPL betting racket, he opened a fuel station in Lucknow.

He later invested money in Mumbai and purchased a flat in Lokhandwala there. Thereafter, he purchased a house and a flat in his native place in Fatehpur. In order to escape police, he had got ‘Press’ painted on his Mercedes car.

As per Jitendra, Ajay, who had escaped during the raid, used to introduce himself as a scribe. Himanshu, Mohit and Sumit told STF sleuths that they were jobless and started working for Jitendra for Rs 20,000 per month.