A Harsha Bhogle Mimic, 5 Cameras & Walkie-Talkies: How 21 Labourers Almost Pulled Off An Incredible Fake IPL

The story gives a detailed account of how 21 farm labourers and umemployed youths of Molipur village of Mehsana district in Gujarat almost pulled off an incredible fake IPL by luring the punters in Russia to even bet on the fake matches.

Fake IPL Busted In Gujarat: The stage was set by 21 farm labourers and unemployed youths in a remote farm at Molipur village of Mehsana district in Gujarat by not just creating a fake Indian Premier League (IPL) but also making it look so real that punters in the Russian cities of Tver, Voronezh and Moscow were induced into placing bets for the matches that were broadcasted live in a Youtube channel called “IPL” for close to a fortnight, according to a report in TOI.

The league had reached the quarter-final stage before the organisers were nabbed by the cops. So far, the Mehsana police have arrested four people involved in orchestrating the ‘Indian premier cricket league’ and are also looking at the hawala channel used to keep this audacious act alive.

What Made the FAKE IPL Look So Real?

• The organisers took turns wearing jerseys of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mumbai Indians (MI) and Gujarat Titans (GT) in an attempt to make it look as real as possible.
• Posed as umpires and used walkie-talkies to orchestrate the unthinkable in front of five HD cameras.
• The audience in Russia fell for the bait as sound effects of crowd noise were downloaded from the internet to make it look as bona fide as possible.
• A commentator from Meerut was hired who could mimic Harsha Bhogle to remove all doubts if anybody had any by that stage along with setting up a telegram channel for the punters to bet their roubles.

A person identified as Shoeb Davda was the chief organiser of the con game, who had lived in Russia for a period of eight months and worked there in a pub famous for taking bets. “Shoeb hired the farm of Ghulam Masih and installed halogen lights there. He readied 21 farm labourers, promising them Rs 400 per match. Next, he hired cameramen and bought t-shirts of IPL teams,” confirmed by police official Bhavesh Rathod, as per the TOI report.

Shoeb was almost able to pull off the fake IPL by teaming up with Asif Mohammed, who he had met in Russia while working in the pub. Asif was the mind behind setting up the fake league, who had introduced the Russian punters to the game of cricket.

After returning from Russia in Molipur, Shoeb hired Sadiq Davda, Saqib, Saifi and Mohammed Kolu to pose as umpires in the fake IPL matches.

“Shoeb would take live bets over the Telegram channel. He would instruct Kolu, the umpire, over a walkie-talkie to signal fours and sixes. Kolu communicated the same to the batsman and the bowler. Acting on the instructions, the bowler would deliver a slow ball, enabling the batsman to hit it for a four or a six,” Rathod further added.

The orchestrators of the fake IPL league were nabbed when the first installment of bets of ₹3 lakhs from Russia were delivered.

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