It all started on June 12, when Subhash Chandra from Alwar reported that his 22-year-old son Bhim Singh and 25-year-old nephew Narayan had been kidnapped. He said the kidnappers demanded ₹7 lakh for their release.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Saad Miya Khan launched an investigation. Using electronic surveillance and local intelligence, the police traced a lead to White Orchid Apartments in Gaur City, Greater Noida. Although Bhim and Narayan weren’t found there, police discovered something unexpected — a betting racket.
Inside the flat, four young men connected to Bhim were caught. They had two laptops, many mobile phones, fake SIM cards, and forged identity documents. When the police questioned them strictly, they admitted they were running an illegal betting operation using an app called Rudra Cric Live.
The trail then led to another flat on the 18th floor of Radha Sky Garden in Greater Noida. There, police found Bhim, Narayan, and two others named Himanshu and Sukhdev. All four confessed they were placing live bets on cricket matches — on things like runs, wickets, and results — through the same app.
In total, eight people aged between 19 and 31 were arrested from the two flats for running and being involved in the illegal betting racket.The police said the betting business was highly organised. Users joined through WhatsApp numbers shared in the app. Each user got a unique ID. Every day, about ₹30 lakh was made in bets, and the money was sent to the main operators sitting in Thailand and Dubai.The group also used social media influencers to promote their betting app, even though it was banned in India. The app would let users win in the beginning to encourage them to place bigger bets — and eventually lose money.
Kasna police station SHO Dharmendra Shukla said they have identified about 20 such betting branches in Delhi-NCR. So far, three have been shut down, and the investigation continues.
Police are also planning to send notices to the social media influencers who promoted the app. They are now checking the phones, laptops, and bank records of those arrested to understand how big the network is. The illegal betting operation is believed to have been running for about six months.
But what about the kidnapping?
Turns out, it was fake. Bhim and Narayan had lost around ₹10 lakh from the betting funds. To hide this, they faked their own kidnapping to get money from their families. Their plan worked for a while — the family even paid some money and came to Noida to help the police find them.
In the end, the kidnapping complaint turned out to be a trick, but it helped police crack a huge betting racket.
[With TOI inputs]
