Guntur: Cricket betting has surged, troubling the public in Guntur. Recently, a couple committed suicide after losing money in betting.
The bookies are operating out of residential areas to avoid being detected by the police. The police started a drive against betting and arrested 20 people involved in it.
There were allegations about the involvement of politicians in cricket betting and encouraging bookies but the police did not taking any action against them. Cricket bookies are using modern electronic equipment to give a slip to the police.
For instance, the Brundavan Gardens colony is a posh area in Guntur where G. Sambasiva Rao rented a house online. Similarly, police arrested sub-bookies and punters from a house at Arundelpeta situated in the heart of the city.
Another cricket betting case was unearthed in an apartment at Nallapadu of Guntur city. On September 19, a couple P Srikanth (28) and Rajeswari (24) committed suicide due to a loss in cricket betting.
Social activist T. Bhadram lamented that youngsters, students, traders, businessmen, employees and other sections of the society have become victims of betting. He said that bookies give ten to 100 percent extra to punters to attract them towards betting but the punters never win.
Guntur rural SP Ch. V. Appala Naidu said that cricket bookies have been using advanced technologies as they were using an application to collect more betting money at a time.
He said that two gangs consisting of nine members were arrested in relation to cricket betting. They were organising it online in a house at Velangini Nagar and near Vasavi rest house of Vinayaka temple of Narasaraopeta.
He said that the police have started an investigation on the basis of mobile numbers of the bookies and that they will not spare anyone caught betting.
