Fake IPL in Gujarat village dupes Russian punters | Ahmedabad News – Times of India

AHMEDABAD: It’s not cricket, but a Gujarat village almost pulled off an elaborate con with a fake IPL – complete with farm labourers masquerading as players, a Harsha Bhogle mimic and even an “official” Telegram channel to take punts – for a remote audience of Russian punters addicted to betting on the thrills and spills of T20.
The charade playing out in a remote farm at Molipur village of Mehsana district reached the “knockout quarterfinal” stage before the organisers of the “Indian premier cricket league” were caught out by the cops.

The gang of cons who set up “IPL” matches at a farm in a Gujarat village accepted bets from punters in Russian cities of Tver, Voronezh and Moscow. The cricket matches were broadcast live over a YouTube channel labelled “IPL” for over a fortnight.

What made the grand fraud even more audacious was that the fake matches started three weeks after the real IPL concluded.
All it took for the real-life con caper to be executed were 21 farm labourers and unemployed youths from the village, who took turns wearing jerseys of the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans. They even did umpiring, flaunting a few walkie-talkies in front of five HD cameras. Crowd-noise sound effects downloaded from the internet made the ambience appear authentic to the audience sitting in Russia.

A “commentator” from Meerut with a talent for mimicking Harsha Bhogle added to the feel of the fake tournament, inducing punters to bet their roubles on the Telegram channel set up by the gang.

The Mehsana police have so far arrested four people and are investigating the hawala channel that was used to keep this con alive.

“Chief organiser” Shoeb Davda, who returned to Molipur after working for eight months in a Russian pub famous for taking bets, helped execute the con. “Shoeb hired the farm of Ghulam Masih and installed halogen lights there. He readied 21 farm labourers, promising them Rs 400 per match. Next, he hired cameramen and bought t-shirts of IPL teams,” police official Bhavesh Rathod said.

Shoeb later revealed to the police that while working at the Russian pub, he had met one Asif Mohammed, who masterminded the con. Asif introduced the Russian punters in the pub to the nuances of cricket.
Once back in Molipur, Shoeb teamed up with Sadiq Davda, Saqib, Saifi and Mohammed Kolu, who played umpires in the fake IPL matches. Saqib, a resident of Meerut, volunteered to be the commentator.

The first instalment of bets from Russia amounting to Rs 3 lakh had just been delivered when they were caught. “Shoeb would take live bets over the Telegram channel. He would instruct Kolu, the umpire, over a walkie-talkie to signal fours and sixes. Kolu communicated the same to the batsman and the bowler. Acting on the instructions, the bowler would deliver a slow ball, enabling the batsman to hit it for a four or a six,” Rathod said.