Gujarat police bust fake IPL T20 scam in Mehsana used to cheat punters in Russia

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The Gujarat police have busted a bizarre scam in which fake IPL T20 matches were streamed on YouTube to cheat punters in Russia who placed bets on the Telegram app.</p>
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The incident took place in a remote farm at Molipur village of Mehsana district where 21 farm labourers and unemployed youth wore team jerseys posing as IPL players.</p>
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"They had umpires with walkie-talkie sets to officiate as they have in IPL and international cricket matches. The setup was good enough to trick unsuspecting people into believing it was a genuine cricket league," Achal Tyagi, the top police official in Mehsana district told Reuters on Monday.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/IPL_Fake_Gujarat2.jfif" style="width: 720px; height: 480px;" /></p>
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To make it look authentic, the field was lit by halogen lights, the umpires flaunted their walkie-talkies, crowd-noise sound effects were added in the background from actual IPL matches. Clever camera angles and fake team names formed part of the hoax.</p>
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The scam was organised by Shoeb Davda who worked in a Russian pub for eight months before returning to Molipur village in Gujarat’s Mehsana village. There Shoeb met Asif Mohammed, who was the mastermind behind the scam.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/IPL_Fake_Gujarat3.jfif" style="width: 720px; height: 480px;" /></p>
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Police official Bhavesh Rathod told the Times of India, “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,”.</p>
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The camera would then focus towards the sky and the commentator would say that the ball had gone for a 4 or a 6. They even had a person to mimic Harsha Bhogle, a well-known cricket commentator to make the YouTube broadcast look more authentic.</p>