Hyderabad: Despite elaborate police bandobast for the India-New Zealand ODI at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Uppal, black-marketers had a field day around the stadium till the early hours of Wednesday.
The economy class tickets that were priced Rs 850 and were sold out online by Tuesday evening were sold in black for up to Rs 4,000 in lanes near Amina complex, Ramanthapur and street number 6 Habsiguda.
Although Uppal police arrested 15 of them and seized 54 tickets, many others were seen selling tickets even at 9.30 am in the surrounding areas, reliable sources disclosed. The police had directed the closure of all shops around the stadium by 11 am. Only the lowest priced tickets Rs 850 were available in black, said Aman Khan, one of them.
“We do not take a chance. Our bosses (he refused to disclose their names) purchased tickets priced Rs 9,000 and Rs 850 in bulk and told us to sell them in black,” Aman said.
“I have sold around 30 tickets to spectators who were desperate since Tuesday night. They were paying Rs 3,800 to Rs 4,300 for the Rs 850 ticket. As far as I know up to 80 persons sold tickets in black and the spectators paid the excess amount without any hesitation,” he said.
