Five held for IPL betting in Mumbai

Mumbai crime branch has busted a betting racket in Kandivli and arrested five bookies for allegedly indulging in online betting for Tuesday's T20 tie between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab teams, an official said Wednesday.

Armed with a specific information, Unit 11 of the crime branch raided a house in Charkop Tuesday, the official said, adding that the five men were found placing bets through internet websites and mobile phone applications.

Police seized 26 mobile phones, a laptop computer, a television set, a set top box, some card swipe units, a dongle, a pen drive, a currency machine and Rs 91,700 cash from the accused persons, he said.

The arrested persons are identified as the kingpin of the racket Abdul Kadir Gafar Chuttani (27) alias "AK", Milind Soni (29), Yusuf Sumra (51), Ronny Raychura (34) and Manoj Lotlikar (25), he said, adding that the accused had noted down the transactions in notebooks.

Abdul Kadir was in touch with international bookies suspected to be based in Mumbai, Rajkot and Delhi, he said.

A local court remanded them in police custody till April 18, the official added.