Police Department of Chhattisgarh has swung into action against those betting on the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in India following an order from Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. Superintendents of Police (SPs) of all the districts have been sensitised against the betting after frequent complaints regarding betting were received.

In this sequence, Raipur police arrested 13 persons engaged in IPL betting a few days back and seized 69 mobile handsets and 7 laptops from them. The police seized betting materials worth lakhs of rupees from the bookies.

The police are keeping an eye on the bookies in all the districts of the state and immediate action is also being taken as soon as the complaint is received.

As the two-month long IPL tournament has started from March 27, bookies take this as opportunity to earn easy money through betting. However, the Chief Minister has alerted the police department to keep a check on the betting following numerous complaints regarding this illegal business which is being done through both online and offline mode.

In the last 48 hours only, action was taken against 17 bookies in 15 cases in Raipur range, 15 bookies in 8 cases in Durg range, 38 bookies in 28 cases in Bilaspur range, 5 bookies in 5 cases in Surguja range and 21 bookies in 13 cases in Bastar range. In this way, a total of 96 bookies active in IPL betting in State were arrested and more than Rs 10 lakh, computers, mobiles etc. used in betting were confiscated.