Mumbai: Touts continue to sell tickets in black at T20 matches

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Forming a heavy-duty anti-tout squad doesn't seem to have made any dent in the black-marketing of T20 tickets. mid-day on Tuesday found touts enjoying a free run outside Wankhede stadium, 24 hours before the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings Punjab XI. Also, there have been no more arrests after the initial crackdown by the Marine Drive police on April 26, when they arrested one person, based on mid-day's April 25 report. And yet, the cops have claimed that black-marketing of match tickets has reduced.

Tickets aplenty
On Tuesday, mid-day visited the stadium and found a few people around. When approached for two tickets for Wednesday's match, one of them, identifying himself as Raj, said, "We can get you 50 tickets at one go, just make sure you have enough money."

When prodded if he really had tickets, he removed one of Samsung North Stand, officially priced at R2,000 that he was selling for R3,000. "Aaj hi ticket le lo, kal iskaa rate R4,000 ho jaayegaa." Another tout, and Raj's 'subordinate', identified as Anand, said, "These tickets come in bulk. We have hundreds." When asked, how they managed to get so many, he added, "Sab setting rehtaa hai."

Online trading
The latest the police have to fight is digital black-marketing. An officer said, "After watching police presence [at the stadium] before matches, touts have changed their modus operandi. Now, no physical transaction takes place. After getting the money, they send the ticket on the buyer's cellphone, which can be scanned at the gate. This is making it difficult to catch the touts."

Also Read: Mid-day Impact: Mumbai police crack down on T20 ticket touts

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