Two persons were arrested by police in Odisha’s Berhampur town for allegedly running an IPL betting racket.

The police also seized Rs 33.61 lakh and two mobile phones from the accused. They suspect that the accused have Dubai links. Interrogation is on.

Southern Range DIG, Satyabrata Bhoi told reporters in Berhampur: “Following a tip off about an illegal online betting racket on the IPL (Indian Premier League), special teams were constituted to nab the kingpins of the racket in Berhampur town on October 29 and October 30. During the raid, a gang was busted and two accused persons R. Lalie Achary (50) and K. Prasant Kumar Subudhi (43) were apprehended and cash worth Rs 33,61,200, two mobile phone sets and three ATMs were seized.”

DIG southern range Satyabrata Bhoi (wearing white mask) and SP Berhampur Pinak Mishra (wearing black mask) with the seized items Gopal Krishna Reddy

The police in a press release said: “On thorough investigation, it was ascertained that the accused persons used to play on various online betting websites. The accused persons have conspired with the help of different agents of different cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Dubai and collected a huge sum from the general public to bet online in IPL cricket with false assurance of getting a profitable margin of return.”

The police said the accused had formed a big group to run the racket that was active in southern Odisha.

“All of them have been arrested under various sections of IPC and Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning Act), 1978,” the police said.