New Delhi: A 36-year-old chemist has been
arrested in the capital for allegedly posing as an authorised
agent of IPL and selling tickets of cricket matches at five
times the original rate, police said today.
Amit Kumar Gupta, who owns a chemist shop in Daryaganj
and has a franchise for 'EASYBILL' which allows payment of
utility bills at its stores, was apprehended yesterday
near Feroze Shah Kotla cricket stadium following a tip off, a
senior police official said.
"He used to procure IPL tickets through the franchisee
and stock the same well in advance which he would further sell
at almost 3-5 times the actual cost of the ticket thereby
earning huge profits," the official said.
The arrest came following investigations into an input
about Gupta's bid to sell IPL tickets in black for the T-20
cricket match between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab
scheduled yesterday.
Twenty-nine tickets of the match were recovered from
his possession, including a complementary pass.
Gupta was procuring IPL tickets and selling them on
higher rates either himself or through his agents.
He was apprehended while he wad posing as authorised
agent of IPL and delivered the ticket of Rs 100 on payment of
Rs 500 to a decoy customer.
"He never used his counter for the purpose. He used to
sell them near the stadium as he was aware of the popularity,
craze and higher demand for tickets. He also posed as an
official of IPL to win confidence of the people approaching
him for purchase of tickets," the official said.
"He indulged in this practice to support a lavish
lifestyle and found in it an easy way of earning money
getting manifold profits," he said.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, April 11, 2010, 18:21