Illegal betting racket busted in Indian capital, 11 arrested

March 10, 2025

Illegal betting racket busted in Indian capital, 11 arrested

As many as 11 people were arrested after the Delhi Police busted an illegal betting racket in the region’s Govindpuri area, officials said on Sunday. Delhi, the national capital of India, was the center of this operation led by Ashok Kumar alias Kale (55), who ran the syndicate along with his son Sanju and nephew Rohit Gulati.

According to police, the gang placed bets on numbers for games, with Kumar managing the operations himself without intermediaries. Acting on a tip-off, police raided two locations in Govindpuri and found people placing bets. Officers seized ₹83,000 (around $1,000) in cash and other materials during the raid.

During interrogation, Kumar admitted to running the betting racket after suffering financial losses in his departmental store business, an official said. The officer added that Kumar had previous cases registered under the Excise and Gambling Act.

Cricket betting racket busted

In another incident a day earlier, Delhi Police’s Crime Branch dismantled a cricket betting syndicate operating in Karampura, arresting three individuals and recovering over ₹22 lakh (around $26,500), an official said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Manish Sahani (42), Yogesh Kukreja (31), and Suraj (24), were allegedly betting on the South Africa-New Zealand Champions Trophy semi-final match held in Pakistan’s Lahore on 5 March 2025.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Aditya Gautam stated, “A raid led to the arrest of three suspects who were found betting on the match.” Officers recovered ₹22.62 lakh (around $27,200) deposited in various accounts, along with a laptop, nine mobile phones, an LED TV, an assistant sound box used for voice recordings, multiple notepads, and betting slips.

Following a tip-off, an investigation revealed that Sahani was running the syndicate. “On 6 March, a well-coordinated raid was conducted on a flat in Karampura. Manish acted as the key organiser of the racket, operating independently without middlemen. He used voice recordings to document conversations with bettors and managed financial transactions through both bank accounts and cash dealings,” the DCP added.