Rajahmundry: Bookies are persuading youngsters, enjoying their summer vacation, to bet in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches in parts of West Godavari. The police have arrested as many as 11 persons, including bookies in two separate cases at Bhimavaram and at Jangareddygudem, in the last few days.

They arrested six persons including the org-aniser and seized cash worth Rs 11,000, an LCD TV set, mobile phones and other equipment at Jangareddygudem. In the two cases detected by the police, the local organisers have links with the bookies based in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

The local organisers usually rent a house or flat in an apartment to operate. They lure students, especially from engineering colleges, who initially use their pocket money for betting but soon enough mount pressure on their parents to extract more money for betting.

Some students whose parents cannot afford to give them Rs 1,000 to Rs 3, 000 as pocket money per month, are known to be involved in theft of mob-ile phones, laptops and even bikes at times of their own friends and others.

Police informed that some arrested students, involved in theft of electronic gadgets and motorcycles, confessed during interrogation that they did so to make quick money for buying liquor and drugs and even for cricket betting.

Though police booked the culprits, after busting the racket, under Sections III and IV of AP Gaming Act, they were let off on bail after having paid a small amount of fine. Jangareddygudem DSP J. Venkata Rao said, “We are finding cricket betting even in rural areas like Jangar-eddygudem and Koyya-lagudem, which was an unknown practice earlier. We are going to bind over the habitual offenders under Section 110 E of CrPC to serve as a deterrent.”

Narasapuram DSP P. Sowmya Latha said, “As more vigil is being kept on urban centres against cricket betting, the organisers are shifting their venue to rural areas to avoid the police. But we are setting up a network of informers and are going to carry out frequent surprise raids at all suspected places to control it.”