Bookies in Jaipur, India busted for activity tied to Betfair

Law enforcement officials in Jaipur, India have arrested two individuals they say were the ringleaders of major gambling syndicates operating out of the region. The pair are accused of leading illegal underground domestic and international sportsbooks that have already taken bets totaling more than $431 million during the current Indian Premier League (IPL).

Deepak Maheshwari and Ramesh Kumar Gangwal were nabbed by police after investigators were able to follow their digital trails. The duo were allegedly running their operations through the international gambling site Betfair, as well as its affiliates.

Betfair reportedly cannot be accessed from computers that have IP addresses in India. The company began blocking the addresses this past January, but this hasn’t stopped the more creative gambling Netizens and entrepreneurs from gaining access. The bookies reportedly used virtual private networks (VPN) to bypass the ban and access the sites.

Gangwal is allegedly a mastermind being India’s gambling mafia. He has been linked by police to groups operating out of Pakistan and Dubai and investigators determined that he had been in recent contact with a “super boss” out of Punjab that offers lines and franchisees to bookies or agents so they can run their operations. In return, the super boss gets a cut of the action.