With Harsha Bhogle's Mimic And Youtube Broadcast, Gujarat Villagers Con Russian Bettors With A Cricket Scam

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In a kinda-weird incident in Gujarat, the Mehsana police arrested four people, who were residents of Molipur (Vadnagar), on the charge of operating a complex fraud of a "fake cricket tournament' and duping Russian bettors for a lot of money.

According to Mehsana Police, the gang was operating a "fake cricket" show to deceive Russian bettors. The cricket field was actually a farmland in Molipur, Vadnagar. The commentator was hired to mimic a famous Indian cricket commentator, Harsha Bhogle, and the umpire was getting instructions on his walkie-talkie and, accordingly, conveying the messages to the players on how to proceed with their game. The players were hired for a little over Rs. 400 per day.

The names of the people arrested were: Soeb Davda, Mahmad Abu Bakar Kolu, Mahmad Saqib Saifi and Sadiq Davda.

In accordance with Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy, Sections of the IT Act, and Sections of the Prevention of Gambling Act, the conmen have been placed in police custody on remand till Tuesday.

The Details

According to news updates by the police of Mehsana, Soeb Davda was the one who allegedly gathered local cricket players from the Vadnagar taluka to join his gambit.

Davda organised the fake tournament and also rented the farmland to convert it into a fake cricket ground. He was also the one giving the players Rs 400 per day. The other two conmen Mahmad Kolu and Sadiq Davda faked being umpires and have been getting instructions from Soeb through walkie-talkie on how to proceed with the game as per the betting requirements.

The reports add that Davda communicated with a Russian man named Asif Mahmad via the Telegram app, who used to arrange betting on the match there. Sorb and Asif used to work in a pub in Russia where they have come to know about Russians' love for betting.

Mahmad Saqib Saifi, the fourth conman, coordinated with Asif for the live betting prices. The amount they had received in the first installment was Rs 3 lakhs, just before their arrest.

In response to the news, Jarrod Kimber, co-founder of 99.94 DM, tweeted: "They nailed the camera angle though. They might have only gotten that one thing right. However, it's a significant one."

A journalist with BBC Sports, Jorgan Elgott said: Unbelievable story from India today. A group of farmers and unemployed youngsters have been running a fake Indian Premier League, and conning Russian punters into betting on it."

Reports add that there were a total of 21 individuals in the con and they were dressed in jerseys from the Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings to act as professional cricket players. Walkie-talkies, 5 HD cameras and crowd noise were added to give the realtime effect.