Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: In one of the most significant actions against illegal sports betting in the country, Goa Police and the Crime Branch have busted a large-scale IPL betting syndicate, arresting 44 individuals and seizing assets worth ₹45 lakh. The arrests, mostly involving non-Goan suspects, were made during six coordinated raids carried out over six days.
Two of these major operations, spearheaded by the Crime Branch, led to 34 arrests and the seizure of property valued at ₹40 lakh.
Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) Rahul Gupta, speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, said that the magnitude of the operation marks it as one of India’s largest betting crackdowns to date. The illegal network, he said, extended beyond the IPL to other cricket formats and football, functioning through a sophisticated digital setup.
Gupta explained that acting on specific intelligence inputs, teams launched a coordinated offensive with the support of the IRB (India Reserve Battalion). The betting network, he said, had a well-structured system in place—complete with dedicated customer service teams, digital payment channels for transactions, and high-end technical infrastructure designed to avoid detection.
During the raids, police seized a wide range of equipment and documents: 101 mobile phones, 17 computers, 95 bank passbooks, 145 ATM cards, more than 50 SIM cards, cheque books, CCTV systems, routers, and detailed registers. The syndicate had reportedly been operating since November–December 2024 out of rented premises across Goa, and notably, all transactions were conducted digitally, leaving no trace of physical cash.
Investigators recovered a substantial amount of digital evidence, including chat logs, QR codes from payment platforms like Paytm, and transaction data, pointing to the extensive scale of the operation. Though no cash was physically recovered, the estimated transaction value linked to the syndicate is ₹45 lakh—₹40 lakh of which was uncovered in just one night during Tuesday’s raids.
Preliminary investigations suggest the Goa-based module is part of a wider betting network spanning multiple states. The arrested individuals had specific roles, mainly serving as agents handling digital transactions and customer support functions for bettors and bookies.
To ensure the accused do not secure immediate bail under the relatively lenient Goa Gambling Act, police have invoked more serious charges, including impersonation and cheating. Authorities say further investigation is underway to trace the full extent of the syndicate’s operations and its interstate links.
