A gang reportedly set up a fake “Indian Premier League” tournament with farm labourers acting to play the game just to dupe Russian punters in a betting scandal reminiscent of the 1973 film The Sting.
The fake IPL reached the quarter final stage before the police caught up the gang and busted in the matter. The tournament had begun three weeks after the real IPL was over in May, as per the police, but that was no hindrance to the gang, which they said leased a remote farm in the western state of Gujarat.
Installation of cricket pitch, with boundary lines and halogen lamps were set up, “Besides this the accused had set up a high-resolution cameras on the ground and used computer generated graphics to display scores on a live streaming screen.” said Inspector Bhavesh Rathod to the reporters.
The gang paid the labourers 400 rupees a game, and broadcast the matches live on a YouTube channel by the name “IPL”.
Usage of Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans were also in the so called fake IPL, said the police, acting on the instructions of the “Russia-based mastermind”.
The camera operator made complete sure that the entire ground was not shown, beaming close-ups of the players instead. The accused had been given a first instalment of more than 300,000 rupees from the punters in Russia, Rathod said.
The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has not responded to an AFP request for comment.
