Online cricket betting racket to lure college students in Pune busted by crime branch

Crime Branch Police in Pune has b♉usted a racket of criminals who lure the college students for online cricket betting during the IPL matches complaint filed by a college student, Umesh Mulchandani.

The Pune Mirror reporteꦅd that Mulchandani, a 23-year-old college student, was first accosted by Gaurav Ahuja, a 20-year-old college student and Ajay Shinde (36), who happens to be the son of a police constable and yet a known crim♓inal, when he was eating out with his friends.

The duo got under the nerves of Mulchandani as a warning to his frien🌳d Rajat Grover owed them Rs 2.5 lakh after losing a bet. According to the report, they threatened to kill him if they 𒀰didn't get their money back in time.

The racket was originally carried out by notorious gangster Sachin Pote, one of the city's top 10 gangsters, which the Crime Branch found out during their investigation. The Police also recovered mobile phone recordings of the accused threatening Mulchandani and extorting mo🐼ney.

"The gang lured students into betting. Subsequently Ajay Shin🃏de and Sachin Pote stepped in to threaten the students and recover the money,"crime branch pol♌ice sub-inspector, Shashikant Shinde, noted in the investigation report.

Upon the conclusion of the initial investigation, the police booked all three of Ahuja, Shinde and Pote under sections 387 (extortion) and 506 (cr🐼iminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act.