Bangalore police busts betting racket, arrests bookie

Bangalore: Police on Saturday claimed to have busted a cricket betting racket here involving World Cup matches with the arrest of three persons, including a notorious bookie, and seizure of Rs 20 lakh in cash. Bookie Ravi Fighter (39) and his associates Vipul Chowbe (28) and Vinod (27) were arrested during a raid in Vyalikaval area following information that they were indulging in betting, Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari said. Police seized Rs 20 lakh, which had been collected from the punters, who had placed bets during the matches in the past one week "25 mobile phones, a laptop, sim cards, with details of persons and amount involved in betting were also seized from them, Bidari said. Two vehicles were also seized and the value of the total property seized was over Rs one crore, he said. Bidari said the bookie had hired two security guards to protect him. The guards were in possession of two .32 revolvers with 12 rounds, which have also been seized.Investigations revealed that Ravi was in touch with other bookies in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi and would regularly conduct transactions with them. According to police, the betting rates changed for every match and sometimes even on hourly basis. PTI