Hubballi-Dharwad police launch crackdown on betting ahead of cricket World Cup finals

HUBBALLI: With the ICC Cricket World Cup finals set to be played between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, there is heavy betting going on in Hubballi, known as the betting hub of the country.

A few days ago, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted a raid on a house in Hubballi following which the Hubballi-Dharwad police are on high alert. Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Renuka Sukumar has launched a crackdown on betting rings and special teams have been formed under DCP (Crime) Ravish and DCP (L&O) Rajeev.

Over the last fortnight, the police have registered 29 cases for betting, arrested 42 people and questioned more than 200 others. The police have also kept a hawk’s eye on online gaming apps.

“We had kept a close watch on betting ever since the World Cup cricket tournament started. Between November 1 and 15, 29 cases and arrested 42 people. As regarding gambling during Deepavali, we have registered 117 cases and arrested 731 people along with the seizure of over Rs 12 lakh. Eight cases were also booked for playing matka and 17 arrests were made”, Renuka Sukumar said.

The police commissioner further said, “This is a clear message of zero tolerance towards organised crime and any sort of illegal activity in the commissionerate. We will continue the crackdown”.