Three bookies arrested in Bengaluru for Indian Premier League betting, Rs 1.6 crore seized

Bengaluru: Three bookies, who have been operating as part of an IPL betting syndicate in Bengaluru have landed in the custody of the Central Crime Branch (CCB). The arrests were made Thursday — the same day when eight people were caught selling IPL tickets in the black market.
The accused are Dhruv Mittal DM, 42, from Bilekahalli, Rohit Ranjan Ravi from Doddathimmasandra, and Vijay Kumar, 41, from Jakkur. Separate cases have been registered against them under the Karnataka Police Act — two at Cubbon Park police station and one at Yelahanka station.
Vijay Kumar was nabbed while organising betting operations from a restaurant at Yashodha Nagar in Yelahanka on April 10. Acting on a tip-off, the special squad led by ACP Gopal Jogin raided the premises and arrested Vijay. A laptop, a phone used for betting activities, and Rs 2,060 were seized from him.
Vijay has been running the racket for three years. He used apps to create user IDs and passwords for about 71 punters and collected money online. Authorities have since frozen Rs 7.2 lakh from one app account, seized Rs 76.7 lakh from another, and frozen Rs 3.7 lakh in his bank account — bringing the total haul from Vijay's operation to nearly Rs 87.6 lakh.
CCB personnel caught Rohit Ranjan Ravi while he was placing bets from seat H in gate no. 7 of Chinnaswamy Stadium. Employed at an IT firm, Rohit confessed to entering the betting scene a year ago due to financial issues. He was introduced to the racket by a Facebook friend, ‘Babuva' from West Bengal. Rohit organised betting for both the Women's Premier League and the IPL using two mobile apps, facilitating ball-by-ball wagers. His financial transactions are currently under scrutiny.
The third arrest involved Dhruv Mittal, who was also caught during an IPL match at Chinnaswamy Stadium, watching from the upper galaxy section near gate no 15. Dhruv had been running betting operations for the past two years. He was introduced to the network by a man named Ekka from Dubai, whom he had met at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in 2023.
Ekka provided Dhruv access to three betting websites and login credentials, which the latter shared with punters in exchange for payments. He used a friend's bank account — registered under a travel business—to route the earnings and conceal the transactions. At the time of arrest, the account held Rs 12 lakh.
Police seized Rs 8,000 in cash and a mobile phone from Dhruv, in addition to chip points worth Rs 63.4 lakh from the apps. In total, the authorities confiscated Rs 75.5 lakh from his operations — the highest seizure related to online betting in recent years.