IPL: Three arrested in Kanpur over betting racket

POLICE in India arrested three men suspected of illegal betting on lucrative Indian Premier League matches, the cricket board said.

The trio were arrested yesterday (11) at a hotel where the Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils teams were staying after their match in Kanpur, north India.

India's cricket board said the arrests led police to "foil the alleged betting attempts of the accused".

"The Anti-Corruption Unit of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been tracking activities of certain individuals, as a result of which three suspects were arrested in Kanpur on Thursday," the board said in a statement.

"Following this operation, the Uttar Pradesh Police Crime Branch could successfully foil the alleged betting attempts of the accused."

This morning, the Hindustan Times said one of the arrested men had allegedly disclosed the names of two Gujarat Lions players and said he had been in touch with them.

One suspect was part of the IPL logistics team and had shared pitch information with the other two.

Four mobile phones, a laptop and Rs 490,000 ($7,625) were recovered from the three men, police superintendent Gaurav Grover said.

Delhi Daredevils won the match by two wickets yesterday (11), surpassing Lions' 195-5 in the first game held at Kanpur's Green stadium this season.

The two sides have already been knocked out of contention for the IPL playoffs.

Nearly all gambling is illegal in India, but is a huge underground industry.

(AFP)