Bengaluru (Karnataka): Betting on a win or loss in sports is not a new aspect. Even today in many sports the speculation of victory and defeat is made openly. But over time betting has become a business and today it is made official by bringing regulations in many nations.
However, on the other hand, the number of people playing offline betting has not decreased. There is also every possibility that a betting racket is active during the ODI Cricket World Cup, which is currently going on in India. Police have also arrested many accused, who were involved in betting during recently held sports events like the Asia Cup and Caribbean Premier League. This time too, the police are geared up to keep an eye on those who are engaged in betting.
It is a challenging task for the police to detect offline betting scams, which are slightly different from other criminal activities. Usually, betting is not like other crimes as it happens between acquaintances, friends and those who meet through them. So the police are keeping an eye on places like pubs, bars, restaurants, social clubs etc. during major sporting events. In many cases, the middleman is arrested through the information of police sources.
Betting is a business where many lose and only a few gain a large amount of money. Due to this, there are instances where many families have faced financial hardships. Sometimes this has led to criminal acts for non-payment of money and many other reasons. So city CCB has urged that people should not engage in betting and should inform the police if they come to know about it.
Before the start of the Asia Cup, which was held in Sri Lanka and the Cricket World Cup, the Center had instructed the media not to show betting or any other form of gambling advertisement or in any other form during the telecast of the major sports events.