According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the 12-member gang, comprising mostly of minors, would roam neighbourhoods to identify households with few occupants or where the family was out of town.
After deciding on a particular house, a few members would play cricket outside, using the game to provide cover to the others, who would enter a house to steal cash and other valuables.
The game of cricket would trick all in the neighbourhood and help the notorious gang keep an eye out for the approaching police. The ploy worked well as they could sneak into the house without triggering anyone’s suspicion whatsoever.
At least six burglaries executed
“The 12-member gang executed at least six burglaries worth about Rs 10 lakh in broad daylight. We’re raiding for one of the kingpins who invested the looted money in cricket betting and hope to nab him soon,” said Chandan Kumar Jha, city SP.
A special police team arrested four members of the gang who were all aged between 15 and 16 years from Bagbera on Tuesday night. The police retrieved four gold chains, four mobile phones, a Nikon camera, Aadhaar Cards and Rs 11,000 in cash from them.
According to the police, one of the gang’s leaders and two associates were also involved in Jamshedpur’s infamous cricket betting syndicates. The SP also added, “We’re raiding all betting dens and have sent big bookies like Jamshed Ahmad alias Jumbo to jail, who had shot Rahul Chanbra over pending payment of Rs 72,000 for betting during the recent Asia Cup T-20 championship in Bangladesh. We’ve also sent his partners to jail.”
When the police dug deep into the matter, they also identified about two dozen businessmen in the city who allegedly bet Rs 2-3 crore on IPL and T20 matches on a regular basis. According to a senior police official, the betting network is now being run through links in big cities like Kolkata, Nagpur and Mumbai.
This surely is not a great advertisement for the game of cricket as the people involved with it are merely in their youths and it is absolutely disheartening to see the budding youngsters using the game in such an abominable cause.
0 votes
