Two brothers who live in Salt Lake were arrested on charges of betting during the World Cup match between Argentina and Mexico early on Sunday, police said.
Ashish and Anand Agarwal were allegedly caught at a bar on AJC Bose Road while the match was on.
“We had information that some people were betting on the outcome of the Argentina-Mexico match in that bar. We raided it while the match was on and located the two men,” said an officer of Kolkata police.
The two were picked up by a team from Shakespeare Sarani police station.
An officer of the police station said more people might be involved in the racket. Police sources said the Agarwal brothers had been arrested earlier, too, on similar charges. They had earlier been picked up by the anti-rowdy squad of the detective department at Lalbazar.
“The brothers claimed they ran a business. We checked and found the claim to be false. They are unemployed,” said an officer of Shakespeare Sarani police station.
The brothers were produced in court on Sunday afternoon and remanded in police custody. They have been charged under the IPC section on cheating and under the gambling act.
According to the police, cases of betting and gambling increase during the football and cricket World Cup. “We see a sharp rise betting during popular tournaments such as football and cricket World Cup. Earlier, people involved in betting used laptops and manual registers to note down the odds, but now everything is done on mobile phones. It is difficult to identify the people involved in betting,” said an investigator at Shakespeare Sarani policestation.
An officer at Lalbazar said vigil had been intensified in nightclubs and bars to prevent gambling and betting during the Fifa World Cup.
