Jhansi: Acting on a tip-off, police late Thursday night busted an illegal IPL betting racket at the Royal City housing complex on Shivpuri Road, arresting two women and recovering gold and silver bars worth Rs 1.57 crore along with Rs 11 lakh in cash.In addition 12 mobile phones, one laptop and a register have also been recovered from the accused. According to police, five more names have cropped up in the betting racket, including a police constable who is on the run, and senior BJP leader, Ashish Upadhyay, who is already in jail after being arrested from New Delhi in an earlier betting racket involving Rs 100 crore, on May 1.SSP Jhansi, BBGTS Murthy said that the search operation lasted till morning, and the accused, Nisha Khan (32) and Yashewshi Dwivedi (24) were arrested after a long interrogation.On sustained questioning, the women revealed that they were operating the betting racket for over a year from the flat which was rented by accused Yashewshi Dwivedi, who was staying with the accused constable, Rajat Singh.The constable who originally hails from Hathras district was posted in a police station in the rural area but was presently on suspension and attached to lines due to some previous misdeeds.SSP Murthy said,“As part of our ongoing ‘Operation 720’ by the Jhansi Police, we have successfully cracked another betting racket. I have terminated the duties of accused constable Rajat Singh. I have also announced a cash reward of Rs 25000 for successfully cracking the case”.In addition, a bounty of Rs 25000 each has been announced on the absconding persons related to earlier betting rackets including two husbands of sitting Nagar Nigam councillors while their properties are also on the police radar.
