CBI files cases in IPL betting racket with Pakistan links

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched an investigation against a network of certain private individuals and “unknown public servants” based in Delhi, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Hyderabad in cricket betting in the Indian Premier League (IPL) influenced matches held in 2019 based on inputs received from Pakistan. It is alleged that the accused persons ran a pan-India network to induce public to put their money into IPL betting. The agency has filed a case in this matter. “In the garb of betting related to IPL matches, they are cheating the general public by inducing them for betting,” the CBI said in the FIR.

The agency has alleged that the accused had opened bank accounts with fake identities and Know Your Customer (KYC) documents in connivance with the unknown bank officials for this purpose. These accounts were allegedly opened with forged details, including multiple dates of birth and without due diligence by bank officials. “A part of the money received from the general public in India for such betting activities was also shared with associates based in foreign countries using hawala transactions. As per the information, the said network of individuals are involved in cricket betting since 2013,” the FIR read.

The accused persons, according to the CBI, were in touch with one Pakistani national named Waqas Malik, whose number has already been obtained during initial investigation. Three people - Dileep Kumar, Gurram Satish, and Gurram Vasu - have been named in the first FIR of the agency and this network, the agency said, is involved in betting since 2013. The CBI has alleged there were transactions worth around Rs10 crore in the account of the accused. In the second FIR, also registered on Friday, the central agency has named four people - Sajjan Singh, Prabhu Lal Meena, Ram Avtar and Amit Kumar Sharma apart from unknown government officials and private persons who were active in IPL cricket betting since 2010. The transactions involved in the second case are close to Rs1 crore. The FIR also alleges that the domestic cash deposits in bank accounts which defy economic rationale are valued at over Rs 43 lakh from 2013 onwards in the case of Dileep Kumar.