The IPL cricket season 2012 began on April 4 and will continue till May 27. As the cricket fever catches on so do the betting and gambling. So there is no doubt that the old City is turning into a major cricket betting hub. It’s a multi-crore game that is being played out in the city these days. Sources reveal that as many as 2,500 bookies are on the job across Hyderabad fixing bets to the tune of crores everyday.
It has also been revealed that the police are flooded with complaints from residents whose kith and kin suffered huge financial losses. Although the amounts betted are small, these have an adverse effect on the family as the income is meager.
As a special team has been constituted to rein in the activity; most of the major bookies have gone underground and have switched off their mobile phones.
During the last 10 day, 7 cases have been registered only in the old city arrests have also been made; 22 cell phones and a cash amount of 67000 rupees has been recovered. Bhavaninagar, Charminar, Aman Nagar, Moosa Bowli and Mirchowk are some of the areas from where the arrests were made.
During the crackdown the South Zone police have busted eight rackets and taken 37 punters into custody. In one of the bigger catches a seven-member gang headed by a cloth merchant from Charminar police station limits was held in this connection. It is said that the gang made a profit of Rs 7 lakh since the season began.
The modus operandi of the bookies is that the lower rung use calculation sheets while the newer one use customized software that record the conversation of the punters. Interestingly, from among the several cell phones seized by the police during the raids, two were loaded with “Now, betting is all about calling on a particular number and registering the bet. The moment a call is received, the time, the amount that the person is betting gets recorded electronically in the cell phone,” said a police official.
“The opening rate for Hyderabad to win is Rs 16 (for every rupee invested) as against Delhi’s 80 paisa,” said a punter on the condition of anonymity.
The betting and gambling activities are on in new city also. While Begum Bazaar is the hotbed of this off-the-ground match moolah, other areas such as Himayathnagar, Basheerbagh, Banjara Hills and Ramkote too have doubled up as nesting zones for these punters, sources say.
Siasat news