As many as 17 arrested for betting on Delhi polls

The Gautam Budh Nagar district police have arrested 17 persons for allegedly betting on the Delhi Assembly elections on Saturday. The police claim to have recovered Rs. 1.13 lakh in cash, 16 mobile phones, two laptops, one country made pistol and live cartridges from them.

“The Ecotech-3 police of Greater Noida received information about an illegal betting racket near Haldoni area. The police, dressed as civilians, tracked the suspects for five days. On Thursday night, the accused were spotted together betting on the elections at a rented accommodation,” said a senior police official.

The undercover police team sought immediate reinforcement. Two police vans rushed to the spot as there were a lot of people at the place. The accused were nabbed red handed, police said.

They were identified as Nur Hasan, Israel, Arvind, Murari, Suryadev, Wasim, Wahid, Hanif, Tasleem, Sukka, Suresh, Gufran, Sirajuddin, Dinesh, Hamid Khan, Mehra and Naseem.

“Nur Hasan is the kingpin and he had organised many such betting events in the past. The betting was organised at former Haldoni village pradhan Usman. However, during the investigation, his role in the racket was not established. Usman had given the accommodation to Nur on rent,” the official said.

“The accused were betting on each Delhi Assembly seat and the bet was decided on the probability of winning. Most of the accused had placed their bet on the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party. They were also betting on the selections of India’s World Cup team as well. The winners got eight times the money they had bet and the organizer — Nur — took 10 per cent of the amount as facility charge,” the official added.