NEW DELHI: “I have only three tickets… ₹5,000 for each.” A slightly built man, wearing a white t-shirt, speaks to a small crowd, which swells rapidly around him, at a petrol station right next to Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium. Hordes of people, meanwhile, make their way through the ground’s entry gates, to watch Delhi Capitals play against Royal Challengers Bangalore on a Saturday evening. The crowd soon begins clamouring, each voice getting more boisterous by the second, as more join in. A group of five or six has become a gathering of 20 in less than a minute. “I’ll take all three tickets for ₹7,000 each,” says one man. Another man makes a more tempting bid.
Meanwhile, the toss was complete, and the chance of landing a ticket was evaporating by the second. Suddenly, a stout young man wearing blue track pants and a maroon t-shirt, with the Delhi Capitals emblem painted on both his cheeks, tore through the mob and swooped down on the ticket seller. He grabbed the man’s neck in a vice grip and whisked him away without a word. The tickets went with him, and the heartbroken mob dispersed. That man in maroon is part of a 20-member special police wing carved out with the express purpose of clamping down on a host of crimes that mushroom in and around the stadium during the Indian Premier League (IPL) every summer. This team is formed before every IPL season, but does not have a name as such. Informally, officers call the team the IPL team, or the stadium team.
“For four or five days every week before a match, members of this wing gather intelligence about potential crimes that could happen at the stadium. On the day of the match, while spectators watch the match, these 20 policemen — an all male force — watch the spectators,” said Sanjay Kumar Sain, deputy commissioner of police (central).
In the first six of the seven matches at the stadium this season, which began on March 31, the police have registered six FIRs from in and around the stadium, arresting 42 people. Several were let off with warnings.
The stadium, with a capacity of around 55,000 spectators, is guarded by about 700 Delhi Police personnel on every match day. The 20-member wing works independently of these 700 people. “Most of these crimes unfold in plain sight. So, we dress up as spectators,” said a sub-inspector part of the special team.
The disguise process, for each officer, is elaborate if unusual. “We paint our faces with logos, wear jerseys and carry flags,” said a team member. Before spectators enter the stadium, they begin spreading out, either in groups of twos or individually, but always guarded by other colleagues in uniform who stay at a distance and keep watch.
The trick usually is to just follow individual spectators willing to pay a little extra for tickets, until they stumble upon a racketeer. “When a family lands up outside the stadium without tickets, they are often willing to pay several times the cost at the last moment. Black marketeers thrive on this,” the police officer says.
Stadiums across India are usually booked to full capacity for IPL matches. After all, a city only gets to host a handful of matches every season.
While this team has nabbed organised black marketeers this season — three were held with 24 tickets, being sold at three times their price, on April 20 as Delhi Capitals faced Kolkata Knight Riders — they usually end up catching individuals who have a few spare tickets and, in the absence of a refund system, are looking to earn some quick money.
According to police data, only 10% of those caught are organised criminals, while a lot more indulge in such acts as a temporary shortcut to make quick money.
The job is relatively easier outside the stadium, said one of the team members. Once inside, it’s a different ball-game.
With fewer distinct groups and most people with their eyes seemingly peeled on the ground or their phones, officers need to be much more discerning. “The focus inside is on those involved in betting or people who may have entered the stadium illegally,” said one officer.
“If a person seems suspicious, we peep into their cellphone screens,” added the officer. “We look for those frantically making calls, or typing away on their screens at the end of every ball.”
Inputs and observational skills helped arrest 25 betters from the stadium on the very first match on April 4. Each suspects was whisked away without a fuss, to ensure genuine spectators aren’t disturbed.
With Delhi Capitals’ IPL sojourn over and no more matches scheduled at the Arun Jaitley Stadium this season, the 20 members of the special police team returned to their usual duties, only to back next year.