Online lottery racket busted, cops arrest 6

Mumbai: A day after the Malvani police busted an online lottery racket and arrested six people, including the owner and conductor of the lottery centre, the accused have stated that they have ties with lottery gurus in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, and a mastermind who was pulling all the strings. The police said the lottery centre was misusing its licence, and the racket was busted after the police kept a keen eye on the suspected persons for days together.

According to the police sources attached to Malvani police station, shop owner Shakil Sayyed and conductor Ali Nawaz Mirza used the modus operandi of scribbling the number selected by a customer on a paper, and made sure the same number flashed in the online lottery draw, hence cheating the others who brought the ticket.

The mastermind of the online lottery has been identified by the police, but the name is kept under wraps as the police needs to arrest him without tipping off the main accused. Deepak Phatangare, senior police inspector of Malvani police, confirmed the development, but refused to comment any further.

The police had been laying a trap for such accused for a long time now, and with Indian Premier League 2018 under the scanner, the betting gurus have started going old school by minting money by the means of lottery.

Last month, the city crime branch had arrested four persons for allegedly running a similar illegal online lottery racket and seized computers and laptops and seized Rs 3.28 lakh from the spot.