A top Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) official as the kingpin, a supervisor of the petrol pump next to the Arun Jaitley Stadium as distribution in-charge, and scores of youth stationed at the stadium gates. This is the cast of characters allegedly involved in the IPL match passes scam, according to Delhi Police investigators, who have uncovered an extensive network that routed nearly 1,000-1,200 complimentary tickets for every match to desperate fans to make a killing.
“This was a very systematic racket with this DDCA official at the top. Depending on the star value of the game and players, the rates of the ticket would be decided. Closer to the start of the game, they would charge more,” a source at the Delhi Police headquarters said. “Before the Royal Challengers Bengaluru game with Virat Kohli the major attraction, they charged at least Rs 80,000 for one ticket. We also learnt that the price ranged from Rs 8,000 to Rs 80,000, depending on the match and the demand.”
The racket came to light after three men identified as Mukeem (35), Gufran (36) and Md. Faisal (38) were arrested outside the stadium on May 8 when they were trying to sell complimentary passes for that day’s game. Their questioning led to the arrest of Pankaj Yadav, a petrol pump employee. Later on Thursday, four DDCA officials, including two senior officers, were asked to join the probe and questioned for around five hours.
As per BCCI norms, the hosting association gets passes from the local franchise for every game, around 10 to 15 percent of the stadium capacity. Based on this formula, DDCA receives around 6,000 passes from Delhi Capitals, of which about 4,000 go to its members.
According to the source, “This one DDCA official, a suspect in the case, handed over the leftover passes to Yadav.” The investigators have sent the phones of the arrested for forensic analysis as they had deleted their chats records and apps.
When contacted, DDCA president Rohan Jaitley and secretary Ashok Sharma refused to comment.
Adding another layer of intrigue to the scam, police said, are the links of those arrested to other IPL venues and the possibility of passes reaching betting syndicates.
“They allegedly procured tickets and complimentary passes through various persons. The role of others associated with this syndicate is also under investigation. They also supplied premium tickets at exorbitant prices to people involved in online live betting/satta operations inside stadiums, as well as to pickpockets and other criminal elements,” Yadav had said at the time the four accused were arrested.
