Ayodhya Nagar police busts online cricket betting racket:7 held, assets worth Rs 50 lakh seized; link with banned ‘Mahadev’ betting app emerges

Bhopal’s Ayodhya Nagar police on Monday dismantled an online cricket betting syndicate that had been operating as a call centre, the police said on Monday. As per police, the gang was running large-scale betting during the Asia Cup cricket tournament. During the operation, the cops seized cash, cars, gadgets, and documents worth Rs 50 lakh, while seven accused were arrested. The investigation also blew the lid off transactions running into crores of rupees. Raids and arrests Acting on directives from Bhopal Police Commissioner Harinarayanachari Mishra, a special police team tracked down the gang. Under the supervision of DCP (Zone-2) Vivek Singh, ACP Manish Bhardwaj and Ayodhya Nagar police station TI Mahesh Lilhare, the team led a raid near the Minal Residency area, where two suspects were caught operating betting from a car. Their interrogation led police to a call centre in RRG Township, Bhojpur Road, where five more accused were arrested. Seized booty The police recovered Rs 3.54 lakh in cash, two cars, 40 smartphones, 80 SIM cards, 177 ATM cards, five laptops, Wi-Fi routers, a cash counting machine, account registers with transactions worth over Rs 1.5 crore, and other electronic devices. In addition, approximately Rs 15 lakh in linked fake accounts were frozen. Modus-operandi of the accused The police learnt that the accused used Instagram advertisements and Telegram channels to access gambling panels linked to the banned Mahadev app, operating under a new platform named “Rudra Diamond”. They provided fake IDs, created multiple bank accounts, and used forged SIM cards to conduct transactions. Betting points were sold to clients, and payments were routed through unidentified accounts. To avoid detection, the syndicate frequently shifted locations, using cars and residential flats as betting hubs. Communication between members was maintained through WhatsApp, ensuring anonymity even within the group. Names of the accused Those arrested include Arun Verma (28), Digeshwar Prasad Verma (33), Divyanshu Pawar (26), Gopi Manikpuri (23), Ankit Das (23), Tarun Verma (24), and Sunil Verma (35), residents of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh districts.