Karnataka - Bangalore   

`Cricket betting on in Bangalore'

K.V. Subramanya

It is likely to gain momentum once the Super Eight matches begin It is likely to gain momentum once the Super Eight matches begin

BANGALORE: India's shocking defeat to minnows Bangladesh in their first league match in the World Cup cricket tournament might have shattered the fans but not punters placing bets on matches.

Cricket betting in Bangalore, which took off with the first match of the tournament between West Indies and Pakistan, is allegedly on full swing and likely to gain momentum once the Super Eight matches begin, according to some punters and senior police officers.

A circular has been issued to field staff to keep watch on suspected bookies as large-scale betting might take place during the World Cup tournament, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Gopal B. Hosur told The Hindu on Tuesday. Even as the betting is reportedly going on clandestinely, the Chickpet Police have arrested two bookies who were allegedly betting on the March 16 match between England and New Zealand.

The punters were betting on how many runs England would score in the first 10 overs . Veerendra (32) of Magadi Road and Padam (32) of Akkipet were arrested when they were accepting bets over the phone while a match was in progress, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) K.V. Sharathchandra said.

Fearing a crackdown by the police, some of bookies have shifted their base to the outskirts of the city after they were arrested for accepting bets during previous cricket tournaments, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Alok Kumar said.

Sources in the city police said that with television sets fitted to their vans, the bookies were moving on the outskirts of the city and were taking bets over mobile phones and even through SMS. Such mobile betting counters were operating from areas bordering Bangalore Rural, Kolar, Mysore and Tamil Nadu, they said.

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