Nagpur: In a major crackdown on illegal cricket betting, the Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Nagpur Rural Police arrested multiple bookies operating from moving vehicles during the India vs Pakistan match on Sunday.
Superintendent of Police Dr. Harssh Poddar led the operation, detaining 86 bookies across the district in the morning. However, as police prepared for further action, several suspects fled. Intelligence reports later revealed that some bookies had shifted to conducting online betting from parked cars to evade detection.
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Monday 24 Feb. 2025
Acting on this information, LCB officers patrolling the Deolapar area located three individuals betting inside a parked car (MH-31/CS-9972) near New Shere Punjab Dhaba on Jabalpur Road. The police swiftly surrounded the vehicle and arrested Aniket Ganesh Pakhide (22), Milind Ramesh Jaiswal (40), both from Deolapar, and Ritik Vinod Diwate (23) from Ramtek tehsil. The trio was allegedly operating under the instructions of Sonu Shyam Manohar Gupta of Saoner, who remains at large. A search for him is ongoing.
In a separate case, Crime Branch officials arrested Praveen Suresh Mahakulkar (32) of Ridhora, Satgaon, for betting inside a car (MH-40/CH-3311) at Balbharti Ground in Butibori MIDC. He was reportedly working for bookie Suraj Rao.
Police have seized the vehicles, mobile phones, and cash involved in both cases as investigations continue. Further arrests are expected as authorities intensify their crackdown on illegal betting networks.
