Betting operators such as Ladbrokes, Sportsbet, TAB, and Neds accept lots of legal cricket bets on the Australian Big Bash League all the time.
That’s because cricket betting is legal in Australia. In India, it isn’t. However, some people are still trying to make easy money accepting illegal Twenty20 bets there, but with limited success.
Caught While Taking Live Cricket Bets
Two bookies in New Delhi have been arrested for accepting bets on an Australian Big Bash League game. The two self-made betting operators were helping Indian punters bet on the top Twenty20 cricket competition but were doing so illegally.
Suraj Sharma and Rajesh Kumar were caught red-handed by Delhi North District police after they raided the building where the bookies were running their illegal bookmaking business from.
When the police entered their apartment, the two men were watching a live telecast of the Perth Scorchers – Adelaide Strikers game. As it later turned out, the men were not just avid cricket fans but were also in the business of cricket betting.
After checking their mobile phones, police found that of the three mobile phones that were there, one was used to take information about the rate of Satta that’s called Dabba. Satta is a very popular form of cricket betting in India, and it is a combination of betting on the sport and a lottery game.
The aspiring bookmakers used the other two phones to take bets from customers. When a customer made a bet, the bookies made notes in their books so that they could keep track of all Big Bash wagers that were made. They had a total of 44 entries in their betting records when they were arrested.
A Betting Kingpin and a Newbie
Both Sharma and Kumar confessed to facilitating illegal cricket betting during interrogation. They said that Sharma, who also runs a mineral water and catering business, was the leader of the betting racket, whereas Rajesh Kumar had only recently got involved in betting.
Sharma, the kingpin, had been involved in cricket betting, particularly betting on live cricket matches, for several years. He knew all the tricks of the trade when it came to organizing and leading the illegal betting scheme. During interrogation, he confessed that he had been luring people to join the bookmaking business promising them heaps of money instantly.
Kumar was probably one of the people that Sharma recruited with the promise of earning easy cash immediately. Both men confirmed that he had been accepting cricket bets for only a month and that he was the more innocent of the two.
