The Cyberabad police have busted an online cricket betting racket with the arrest of four bookies.
The police also seized Rs 40 lakh from the possession of the accused persons, besides freezing five bank accounts worth Rs 3.57 lakh.
Acting on a reliable tip-off, the special operations team (SOT) of Madhapur and Miyapur police jointly nabbed the bookies from an apartment at Mathrusri Nagar under the limits of the Miyapur police station.
The arrested persons have been identified as Aaluru Trinadh, Manam Rajesh, Bolle Swamy, and Marpenna Ganapathi Rao, who organised online cricket betting through the Cricket Live Guru and Lucky Online apps on the matches of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
The police investigation revealed that a London-based person named Shakamuri Venkateshwar Rao alias Chinnu, a native of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, was organising online cricket betting. The four arrested persons, all from Andhra Pradesh, acted as bookies on his behalf.
G. Vineeth, the DCP of Madhapur Zone, has requested citizens to inform the police regarding bookies and punters organising online cricket betting by dialing 100 or through the WhatsApp number 9490617444.