It has been revealed that a fake Indian Premier League competition took place, set up by a gang who used farm labourers acting as players in the aim of scamming Russian bettors.
The scheme managed to reach the quarter-final stage before the Police showed up to the farm in Mehsana.
Insp Bhavesh Rathod told the media that “they had installed a cricket pitch, complete with boundary lines and halogen lamps”.
“Besides this, the accused had set up high-resolution cameras on the ground and used computer generated graphics to display scores on a live streaming screen.”
The competition was also filmed using five high-definition cameras, but these would never show a wide shot of the pitch.
It was also reported that the group hired labourers and unemployed young people, who were earning around £4.20 a game, and broadcast the matches on a YouTube channel live called IPL.
Crowd sound effects were downloaded, whilst a speaker resembled one of IPL’s real Indian commentators in order to make the competition look more believable.
A telegram channel was set up, which Russian punters used to place their bets on the game, and someone would then alert the fake umpire on the pitch using walkie-talkies.
The group had apparently gained a first instalment of over 300,000 rupees, and four people have been arrested by the Mehsana police in relation to the con.