I-T dept busts cricket betting racket in Delhi

The Income Tax Department Wednesday busted a cricket betting and hawala racket in Delhi and seized Rs 1.09 crore in cash and high-end watches worth Rs 50 lakh, officials said.

The investigation wing of the department here raided premises in the Punjabi Bagh area over the week and also detected alleged illegal foreign assets of the accused in Dubai, London and the British Virgin Islands.

While the department did not identify the accused, it said it has provisionally attached two houses in Punjabi Bagh and a farmhouse in the Bijwasan area, worth Rs 30 crore, as part of the probe.

Officials in the department said the accused are also "involved" in the business of illegal settlement of disputed properties even as the taxman recovered four luxury cars and 180 bottles of foreign liquor after the searches.

Rs 1.09 crore in cash, including Rs 14 lakh in foreign currency, jewellery worth Rs 1.8 crore and branded watches worth Rs 50 lakh have been seized, they said.