In a shocking incident, a village in Gujarat organised a fake Indian Premier League (IPL) to dupe Russian punters. The organisers made teams by approaching local farmers and unemployed youth who wore jerseys of several IPL franchises. In a remote farm of Molipur village in Vadnagar taluka of Mehsana district, the tournament was organized for punters from Russia who are said to be obsessed with betting.
As reported by The Times of India, the tournament had reached its quarter-final stage before the cops got into action. The organisers started the tournament three weeks after the original IPL tournament was concluded.
These conmen accepted money from punters in three Russian cities of Tver, Voronezh and Moscow on fake cricket matches which were telecasted on You Tube on a channel named the IPL. The 21 labourers wore jerseys of Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans while the recorded crowd noise added more feel to the fake matches.
The bets were accepted on Telegram channel and the conmen also roped in a commentator from Meerut to mimick Harsha Bhogle. In total, four people have been arrested so far and the investigation is on.
SOG PI, Mehsana, Bhavesh Rathod explained how a man called Shoeb Davda, who spent eight months in a Russian pub known for making bets, came up with the entire plan.
“Shoeb hired the farm of Ghulam Masih and installed halogen lights there. He readied 21 farm labourers, promising them Rs 400 per match. Next, he hired cameramen and bought T-shirts of IPL teams. When the cops were tipped-off, they felt something was wrong,” Rathod said.
Shoeb later revealed that while he was working at the Russian pub, he met a man called Asif Mohammed who was the mastermind behind the plan.
“Shoeb would take bets. He would instruct Kolu, the umpire, to signal fours and sixes. Kolu would alert the batsman and the baller. Next, the baller would deliver a slow ball, enabling the batsman to hit it for a four or a six. The cameramen would pan the cameras towards the sky to show that the ball was nowhere in sight. Next, they would zoom into the umpire who would signal a six. The cameramen ensured there were no zoom-outs lest the farm became visible,” Rathod added.
