A case of alleged match-fixing and betting appeared in the Indian Premier League when the Central Bureau of Investigation on 14th May 2022 arrested 3 people in this regard. Press Trust of India reported that there is a racket involved in match-fixing and betting in the IPL. The reports say that this racket allegedly influenced the results of some IPL matches as per the inputs it received from Pakistan. Meanwhile, a case is registered against the three arrested by the CBI.
Match-fixing racket allegedly influenced outcome of IPL cricket matches based on inputs from Pakistan: Officials after CBI books 3 people
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 14, 2022
Reportedly, this case is related to the 2019 season of the IPL and the registered FIR is also about the same. “In the garb of betting related to IPL matches, they are cheating the general public by inducing them for betting,” CBI said in the FIR.
“A part of the money received from the general public in India for such betting activities was also shared with associates based in foreign countries using hawala transactions. As per the information, the said network of individuals are involved in cricket betting since 2013,” the FIR says.
However, it is not yet clear who was involved in it and what was the scale of the match-fixing. It is notable that the 2019 season of the IPL was organized in India and in the final match, Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings to win the trophy.
CBI books three persons for alleged match-fixing and betting in Indian Premier League T-20 cricket tournament: Officials
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 14, 2022
Out of the three arrests, one is from Delhi and two are from Hyderabad. The agency arrested Dilip Kumar from the Rohini area of Delhi while Gurram Vasu and Gurram Satish were arrested in Hyderabad. According to the CBI officials, the racket is active since 2013 and they have cheated many people in the name of betting and by making fake bank accounts. CBI also found that they were in contact of a Pakistani suspect named Waqas Malik, who was identified through a Pakistani phone number.
The people involved in this racket had opened bank accounts using fake documents and the concerned bank officers are also alleged to not checked the details of these accounts properly. The money of betting taken from common Indians was collected in these accounts. It was then sent to the foreign members of this racket through hawala.
This is not the first time that a match-fixing racket is exposed in IPL. In 2013, Rajasthan Royals players S. Sreesanth, Ashok Chandila, and Ankit Chavhan were caught in spot-fixing. They were arrested by the Delhi police and the BCCI imposed a lifetime ban on the players. However, it was lifted later.
