Ticket black marketing: 3 held ahead of opening match
Times of India | 23 March 2025
Kolkata: Kolkata Police arrested multiple individuals involved in black marketing IPL tickets hours before the opening match between defending champions KKR and Virat Kohli-starrer RCB at Eden Gardens on Saturday. The arrests come amid rising concerns over rampant ticket frauds both online and in physical black markets.
Police arrested three individuals from different parts of the city. Piyush Mahendra and his associate Kamal Hussain were arrested from the Girish Park area for an online ticket fraud, while Shahbaz Khan was caught in New Market with six tickets that he was selling at a much higher price.
Mahendra and Hussain were found with 17 IPL match tickets, four complimentary tickets, two mobile phones and Rs 20,600 in cash. Cops said they were arrested under relevant sections of the West Bengal Black Marketing Act, 1948, and the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS).
According to cops, complainant Dhiraj Mali (33), a resident of Seth Bagan Lane, filed a complaint at Girish Park PS stating that he came across a social media post by one Ashish Sharma, claiming to have IPL tickets for sale. "After contacting Sharma, Mali arranged to collect the tickets in the Girish Park area, where he met Mahendra. After handing over Rs 20,000 in cash, Mali received an envelope containing two Rs 2,000 tickets and two complimentary ones. Realising he was duped, he attempted to contact Sharma, but his calls went unanswered. It was then he lodged a complaint against the gang," said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.
"We have also received multiple complaints via email and phone calls regarding online frauds. We are monitoring suspicious social media pages and will continue taking strict action against those involved," said a senior officer at Lalbazar.
TOI reported on Thursday how a woman from the Girish Park area allegedly fell for an online ticket scam when she transferred Rs 12,000 after watching an advertisement on Instagram for cheap match tickets but received none. On Friday, TOI spotted black marketeers outside the Maidan area selling Rs 900 tickets for Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,500 tickets at Rs 5,000.
Cops advised cricket fans to purchase tickets only from official sources.
Kolkata: Kolkata Police arrested multiple individuals involved in black marketing IPL tickets hours before the opening match between defending champions KKR and Virat Kohli-starrer RCB at Eden Gardens on Saturday. The arrests come amid rising concerns over rampant ticket frauds both online and in physical black markets.
Police arrested three individuals from different parts of the city. Piyush Mahendra and his associate Kamal Hussain were arrested from the Girish Park area for an online ticket fraud, while Shahbaz Khan was caught in New Market with six tickets that he was selling at a much higher price.
Mahendra and Hussain were found with 17 IPL match tickets, four complimentary tickets, two mobile phones and Rs 20,600 in cash. Cops said they were arrested under relevant sections of the West Bengal Black Marketing Act, 1948, and the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS).
According to cops, complainant Dhiraj Mali (33), a resident of Seth Bagan Lane, filed a complaint at Girish Park PS stating that he came across a social media post by one Ashish Sharma, claiming to have IPL tickets for sale. "After contacting Sharma, Mali arranged to collect the tickets in the Girish Park area, where he met Mahendra. After handing over Rs 20,000 in cash, Mali received an envelope containing two Rs 2,000 tickets and two complimentary ones. Realising he was duped, he attempted to contact Sharma, but his calls went unanswered. It was then he lodged a complaint against the gang," said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.
"We have also received multiple complaints via email and phone calls regarding online frauds. We are monitoring suspicious social media pages and will continue taking strict action against those involved," said a senior officer at Lalbazar.
TOI reported on Thursday how a woman from the Girish Park area allegedly fell for an online ticket scam when she transferred Rs 12,000 after watching an advertisement on Instagram for cheap match tickets but received none. On Friday, TOI spotted black marketeers outside the Maidan area selling Rs 900 tickets for Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,500 tickets at Rs 5,000.
Cops advised cricket fans to purchase tickets only from official sources such as the IPL website and BookMyShow.