Hyderabad: Technology is a boon for bookies and punters, who cannot keep away from betting money on sports, especially when it is a cricket match between India and Pakistan.
With the police busting the gangs organising betting through traditional methods, bookies operating in the city have almost shut shop and taken to the internet as a safer platform to run their illegal betting rackets.
Mobile applications and websites are now hot routes for punters too, as there is less chance of being caught.
The India-Pakistan World Cup cricket match played in England on Sunday saw huge betting rates.
India being the favourite team, punters placing bets on Pakistan’s winning chances were offered huge profits, at a rate two-and-a-half times more.
Apps and websites allow punters to bet money online and get the money back online, cutting out the need to call bookies to place their bets.
In the mobile applications which are mostly maintained by bookies living abroad, punters only have to register themselves and place bets.
On winning, the money is directly credited into the accounts app wallets which they can redeem later.
Though some applications do not allow the residents of certain states, including Telangana state, to participate in the betting, many are still usable.
Telangana state, Odisha and Nagaland have banned online betting. However, illegal activity is still very active.
Some applications require users to submit copies of their identification cards and bank details for verification.
Some applications, however, do not have any such restriction, allowing punters from states that have banned betting to participate.
The Hyderabad police recently arrested two persons who were organising betting in the city during the Indian Premier League matches.
The accused persons were following the betting rates on mobile apps and running the racket by accepting bets through phone calls and collecting money in person.
“The organisers as well as punters are indulging in betting online and most of them who operated earlier from the city are now not in the state, but are still active in other states.
“The money transactions are all made online and are not easy to track, unlike the traditional methods,” said a senior police official from the Special Operations Team on Sunday.
