CBI Starts Investigating IPL Betting With Deep Links From Pakistan: Multiple Bank A/Cs, Fake Ids Found

The CBI has launched an investigation into cricket betting which would influence the outcome of IPL matches, particularly the season held in the year 2019.

It is acting on “reliable” information that a network of individuals are influencing the match outcomes based on inputs received from Pakistan.

Accusations

It is now probing into certain private individuals and “unknown public servants” based in Delhi, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Hyderabad.

It suspects the accused to run a pan-India network to induce the public to put their money into IPL betting.

The central agency registered two cases on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery of the Indian Penal Code and prevention of corruption act.

In one of the FIRs, the agency said that the people involved are cheating the IPL fans and general public by inducing them to bet.

Modus Operandi

For this purpose, the individuals involved have opened bank accounts (mule accounts) using fake identities and KYC documents in collusion with unknown bank officials.

These accounts have been opened by submitting forged details such as multiple dates of birth.

The bank officials failed to do the due diligence.

Part of the money received from the public in India was being shared by their associates based in foreign countries using hawala transactions.

First FIR

The accused were in touch with a Pakistani national named Waqas Malik, whose number has already been obtained by the CBI.

Three people – Dileep Kumar, Gurram Satish, and Gurram Vasu – have been named in the first FIR and they are said to be involved in betting since 2013.

The CBI believes that there were transactions worth around Rs 10 crore in the account of the accused.

Second FIR

In the second FIR, four people were named- Sajjan Singh, Prabhu Lal Meena, Ram Avtar and Amit Kumar Sharma apart from unknown government officials and private persons who were active in IPL betting since 2010.

The transactions involved in the second case are close to Rs 1 crore.

Both FIRs were registered on May 13 and the accused named in them are low-level players, CBI suspects.

Previous Cases

This is not the first time that an IPL tournament has been tainted by match fixing and illegal betting. 

In 2015, the Supreme-Court appointed Lodha Committee had suspended two major franchises – Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals – for two years from the IPL.

Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra were also banned from cricketing events for five years.

Before this case, on May 15, 2013 news regarding the arrests of Ajit Chandila, S Sreesanth Ankeet Chavan for spot-fixing rocked the nation.