In a major breakthrough, the district police have nabbed 107 persons involved in the World Cup cricket betting including 10 persons who were accepting bets in Shiv Shakti Nagar under Chhola Mandir police on Saturday in the State capital.
Superintendent of Police Bhopal (North) Arvind Saxena said that the main accused Pradeep Pandey was operating the betting by employing ten persons who used to accept bets. Pandey had been arrested earlier for betting.
The ten persons employed by Pandey would be questioned and strict action against them would be taken. The remaining 97 persons who were caught placing bets belong to the nearby areas. Police have intensified the search for Pandey.
High level enquiry into the matter would be conducted, said SP Saxena.
SP Saxena praised the police teams involved in the action. Police confirmed that the betting was being operated for the past two months. It was being operated in a rented apartment by Pandey and recently he had done an agreement to buy the house from the house owner. The role of the house owner in the betting is yet to be established.
Acting on a tip-off, the action was taken between 4-5 pm on Saturday. Several of the nabbed accused are daily wage labourers and placed bets of meagre amount of `25-`50, said the police. A case under Sections 3 and 4 of the Gambling Act has been registered against the nabbed accused. Those involved in accepting bets would be charged under other Sections also, the police said.