Jamshedpur: Police have decided to fall back on a unique strategy to clip the wings of IPL betting operators in the city following the arrest of agent Parvez Ahmed on Tuesday.

After quizzing Ahmed and intensifying their information-gathering mechanism, police have identified a dozen more persons actively running IPL betting rackets in Sakchi, Sonari, Jugsalai, Baridih, Kadma and Golmuri.

SSP Anoop Birtharay said they planned to pick up the suspects before the start of the IPL match at 8pm and keep them confined at local thanas till the game gotover.

"By keeping them at the police station for 4-5 hours, we will able to prevent them from operating the racket," he said.

The SSP refused to divulge the names of the suspects fearing they might get cautious and go underground.

According to sources, betting operators such as Ahmed swing into action as soon as an IPL match begins.

"Each operator keeps as many as 10-12 cellphones with them during the course of the match. People place their bets on a particular team based on its prospects and quote the amount they are willing to pay in case the team wins. The bets are placed through agents and people known to the operators. The operators switch off their cell phones once the match is over. Next morning, they collect the money from those who lost the bet and pay those who won it," a source said.

The SIM cards of the cellphones used in betting are procured by furnishing fake ID and address proofs.

On Tuesday night, police had seized Rs 26 lakh, gold jewellery, 14 cell phones and an SUV while arresting Ahmed from Mango. He was sent to Ghaghidih Central Jail on Thursday.