Five held for black-marketing IPL 2026 final tickets in Ahmedabad

Five persons were nabbed from two different places in Ahmedabad for allegedly black-marketing tickets for the Tata IPL 2026 Final scheduled to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera on May 31.

In the first instance, the Chandkheda police on Friday arrested three young men were caught attempting to sell the IPL final match tickets at prices significantly higher than their original value. The operation was carried out following specific intelligence inputs regarding illegal ticket sales in the New CG Road area.

Police said that a surveillance team, acting on a tip-off, reached a public shelter near Kanha Hotel on New CG Road late on Friday night. Officers were informed that two men were offering tickets for the IPL final at inflated rates.

During the raid, police detained two suspects identified as Ishan Bhatt (21) and Nirmalkumar Gundesha Jain (21), both natives of Rajasthan residing in Ahmedabad. A search conducted in the presence of independent witnesses led to the recovery of two tickets for the IPL 2026 final.

Investigators found that each ticket carried an official price of ₹3,500. However, the duo allegedly intended to sell them for ₹15,000 apiece, more than four times the original value.

During questioning, the two accused allegedly disclosed that the tickets had been supplied by their associate, Rishabh Chandra Darlesha Jain (19), who was staying at a hotel in Bapunagar. Police subsequently traced and detained him.

Rishabh allegedly admitted that he had purchased the tickets at their original price and handed them over to the other two accused with instructions to sell them at a premium, promising them a commission on the proceeds.

The tickets were seized as evidence and all three accused were booked under relevant provisions of the law.

Two caught from Sindhu Bhavan Road

Meanwhile, the Detection of Crime Branch on Friday arrested two persons for allegedly black-marketing tickets for the IPL 2026 final.

The accused were allegedly caught near a restaurant on Sindhu Bhavan Road while attempting to sell match tickets at nearly three times their original price. Police seized four IPL final tickets and two mobile phones collectively valued at ₹1.25 lakh during the operation.

Crime Branch officials received specific intelligence on Friday evening that two men were standing near the Move Restaurant, offering IPL final tickets for sale at inflated rates.

Acting on the tip-off, a Crime Branch team conducted a raid and intercepted the suspects around 6.45 pm. The accused were identified as Maan Patel (19), a resident of Bodakdev, and Safiq alias Bunny Mohammad Ayub Ansari (24), a resident of Gomtipur.

During a search conducted in the presence of independent witnesses, police recovered two IPL final tickets from each accused. All four tickets were for Block F of the Narendra Modi Stadium and carried an original printed price of ₹3,500 each.

Investigators said the duo allegedly admitted that they had booked the tickets online in advance and were attempting to sell them for ₹10,000 each to cricket fans eager to attend the final.

Police also seized a mobile phone worth approximately ₹25,000 from Patel and another phone around ₹1 lakh from Ansari. The devices are being examined as part of the investigation.

A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Gujarat Police Act.