Berhampur: Police have arrested seven persons engaged in cricket betting for the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.

Police have seized Rs 10.09 lakh in cash and 14 mobile phones from the men, who are aged between 22 and 35.

Inspector in charge of Aska police station Santosh Kumar Jena said the arrested persons had been identified as Aman Behera, Abhilash Lenka, B. Mukesh Patra, Niranjan Sabat, Rabindra Mahanty, Susant Biswal and Brahmananda Panda. 

They were forwarded to the court on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police conducted the raid on Rameswar Mobile Shop at Biju Patnaik Square in Aska, 40km from here. They were collecting lakhs of rupees from people to bet with assurance of multiplication of their principal amount within a day with fraudulent and dishonest intentions, said the police inspector. 

The police have registered a case under sections 294 (A), 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 4 and 5 of Prize Chit Money Circulation (Prohibition) Act-1978.

Earlier, a BTech student and two of his associates had been arrested in connection with IPL betting at Berhampur on April 12. The police had seized Rs 7.61 lakh in cash, four mobile phones, one calculator and three notebooks from their possession.

“It was online betting and had its root outside the state. We have sought the help of the cyber police station to further investigate the case,” said additional superintendent of police Trinath Patel.

“Berhampur police have prepared a blueprint to eradicate cricket betting. We have alerted all police stations and officers. IPL betting is itself is a serious crime and we have vowed to take swift and stringent action against it,” said Patel. During 2016, 33 persons were arrested in three cases and Rs 2.34 lakh cash was seized from them for cricket betting in Berhampur. In 2017, 16 were arrested in two cases and Rs 15.34 lakh in cash seized from them, said Patel.