A team from the Property Cell of Pimpri Chinchwad police had been working on specific inputs regarding suspects taking online bets.
Based on the inputs received, a team from the Crime Branch raided an area next to a restaurant in Pimpri late on the night of September 20.
During the raid, police detained two suspects, Girish Mulchand Israni (31) and his brother Vicky Mulchand Israni (34), both residents of Pimpri area. Investigations revealed the two suspects were acting as bookies and had been taking bets through an online platform. “At the time when our team raided the premises, the suspects were taking bets on a match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We detained and booked the suspects and seized the phones they were using to take bets. Our probe suggests that Girish is a businessman while Vicky used to work in the hospitality industry in Jamaica and returned to India some time ago.” said an officer from Crime Branch.
The officer added, “The duo had created login IDs on an online betting platform. We have launched a probe into the accomplices of these two suspects and their forward and backward linkages. The offence has been registered under the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act.”
Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad police have conducted multiple raids over the last few years where suspects were arrested for taking bets on international cricket matches and IPL matches. In 2023, 12 raids were conducted by Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune City police teams for the year’s season of IPL, in which 53 persons were arrested, the highest ever in one season by the two neighbouring urban police jurisdictions of Pune.
