The Rajgangpur Police in Odisha’s Sundargarh district have successfully disrupted an Indian Premier League (IPL) betting racket and arrested five individuals implicated in illegal betting activities, according to a police official.

On Sunday, a senior police official stated that following credible intelligence, Sundargarh Superintendent of Police Amritpal Kaur instructed a special team to take immediate action against the illegal IPL betting operations.

The team conducted a raid in Rajgangpur on Sunday, successfully uncovering the betting racket. During the operation, five individuals were arrested for their active roles in running the betting network and collecting money from various participants.

Police seized Rs 6,00,000 in cash and froze Rs 17,61,367 held in a bank account, along with five mobile phones. A case has been registered at the Rajgangpur Police Station under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Orissa Prevention of Gambling Act, and Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act.

The Odisha Police have recently dismantled similar betting operations in the Puri and Berhampur areas of the state. In April, Puri Police shut down an IPL betting network, arresting four individuals and seizing over Rs 25 lakh in cash, while freezing Rs 31.81 lakh in bank deposits linked to the suspects.

Interrogation and analysis of mobile phones revealed that the group operated through an online betting platform, enticing many to wager on IPL matches. During the searches, Rs 3.04 lakh and six mobile phones were recovered, while a raid at one suspect’s residence uncovered Rs 22.31 lakh, believed to be betting proceeds.

The frozen Rs 31.81 lakh transactions are currently under investigation, and the racket had been operational in Puri for nearly two years. Meanwhile, Berhampur police arrested a 21-year-old bookie connected to an IPL betting racket, who was found to be linked to the online gaming website ag.noor333.com.