The Hyderabad Police arrested four persons for allegedly black-marketing complimentary tickets for the upcoming India West Indies fourth T20 International cricket match scheduled for October 14, selling them at exorbitant prices through social media platforms.
According to the police, the case came to light on October 12 when Assistant Sub-Inspector V. Janardhan Naik, while patrolling with a police constable, received information about the illegal sale of cricket tickets near SD Mall in Begum Bazar. A police team reached the spot around 9 p.m. and apprehended Avinnashh Darak (24) and Mohith Somani (30).
The police seized 11 complimentary cricket match tickets bearing the inscription ‘Not for Sale’, eight passes for the Namdhari Gaurav Navratri Utsav, a Suzuki Access two-wheeler, mobile phones and ₹5,000 in cash from them.
During questioning, the two allegedly disclosed that they had obtained the complimentary tickets through Akarshit Srivastava, who had received them from his father, Satish Chandra Srivastava, a member of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) at the Uppal cricket stadium, police said.
They added that Akarshit supplied the tickets to Darak, who, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Somani, advertised their availability through WhatsApp status updates and Instagram. Interested buyers contacted them through social media, following which the tickets were sold at inflated prices in the black market.
The police arrested Akarshit Srivastava and Satish Chandra Srivastava, along with Darak and Somani, on October 13. All four were produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody. The arrests were made by the Goshamahal police in connection with a case registered under Sections 112(1) and 318(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 21(gg) of the City Police Act.
