Police busted an inter-state betting racket that was running on wagers placed on the outcome of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) cricket matches across the nation, including Sunday’s Eden Gardens event.

Five men were arrested in an apartment in Phoolbagan on Monday afternoon, hours before the match between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings began in Jaipur.

The police seized a TV set and recording gear, a laptop, mobile phones, score-sheets, balance sheets and a telephone-conversation recording machine. All these were used to monitor the matches while taking bets from gamblers over the phone.

The five who were arrested and brought to Lalbazar were identified as Adarsh Mohta, Mayank Damani, Dilip Sharma, Vishnu Mundra and Baldeo Damani. According to records available with the police, Adarsh was earlier arrested in February on the same charges and was let out on bail.

The deputy commissioner of police, detective department, Jawed Shamim said: “They started operating the betting racket from the first match of the IPL schedule. We have recovered balance sheets which will help us assess the exact amount of money that was pumped into the racket in the form of bets.”