Fake IPL! Con Gang organise 'Indian Premier League', duped Harsha Bhogle to lure Russian punters

Ahmedabad, July 11: Now even IPL has a fake! A few people in Gujarat attempted to dupe the highly popular Indian Premier League, a T20 tournament conducted by the BCCI annually, and lured punters from Russia to bet on the matches, albeit duped matches.

Mehsana Police arrested a few people in connection with the incident and named Shoeb David as the 'chief organiser’ of the fake IPL.

Apart from Shoeb, the police also nabbed Asif Mohammed, Shoes co-worker in a Russian pub, Sadiq Davda, Saqib, Saifi and Mohammed Kolu. The last four named was acted on-field umpires.

While Saqib, who hails from Meerut, was roped in as commentator who could ably mimic Harsha Bhogle. The Fake IPL reached its 'quarterfinal’ stage before the Mehsana Police arrested the culprits.

“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 was quoted as saying by the ToI.

“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,” the police said in a statement.

The Fake IPL started a few weeks after the original IPL and was named as Indian Premier Cricket League. It was also 'live’ on a YouTube Channel and betting was done using the Telegram.

The con gang hired local farm workers on daily wages and gave them jerseys to present them as cricketers.

They also organised the matches in a local stadium during the evening while installing 5 high definition cameras and the 'umpires’ used fake walkie-talkies during the 'match’ to communicate with 'TV Umpires’ to make the whole jig looks real for the punters.