Eight blackmarketeers held ahead of Mohali tie

Blackmarketing of tickets for Wednesday's India-Pakistan World Cup semifinal in Mohali continues unabated. During the last two days, eight blackmarketeers have been arrested and booked for cheating, police here said.

According to the Chandigarh police, they arrested a college student Yogesh Sharma from Sector 17, the commercial hub of Chandigarh, late Sunday.

"We arrested Yogesh while he was trying to sell two Rs.250 tickets for Rs.20,000. A case of cheating has been registered against him and our investigation is on," said a police official here Monday.

The match, which is rousing passions even before it has started, be played at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium in Mohali, 10 km from here.

Punjab police have also arrested three people, including a student, for the black marketing of tickets, late Sunday.

"Manish Nagal, a college student, was arrested from outside the PCA stadium. He was selling a Rs.250 ticket for Rs.18,000. Besides, we have arrested Rashid and his friend Amardeep Dutt for selling Rs.250 tickets for Rs.20,000 each," said Harpreet Singh, Mohali superintendent of police (city), here Monday.

Earlier on Sunday morning, Chandigarh police arrested three men for attempting to blackmarket tickets.

Hemant Kumar, Rohit Sharma and Jasmeet Singh, aged 18-20 years, were trying to sell the tickets at a premium in the Information Technology (IT) park area.

"They had two tickets of Rs.250 (face value) each and one ticket of Rs.500. They were selling these three tickets for Rs.56,000. We have arrested them and their interrogation is on," said a police official.

On Saturday evening, another blackmarketeer, a department store owner, was arrested in Burail village here. He was selling a Rs.250 ticket for Rs.25,000, police said.

Acting on a tip-off that a shopkeeper in the village was selling tickets in black, police laid a trap and sent a decoy customer to his shop late Saturday.

A deal was struck for Rs.50,000 for two tickets of Rs.250 each.

World Cup fever has reached its peak here, with a Rs.15,000 ticket for the match allegedly being sold for over Rs.100,000 in the black market.