Lucknow, May 8 (PTI) An interstate gang that allegedly used ChatGPT and graphic design software to create fake IPL tickets and sell them to cricket fans outside Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium has been busted with the arrest of four persons, police said on Friday. The accused allegedly used social media platforms to source images of original Indian Premier League (IPL) tickets and then edited and redesigned them using CorelDRAW software to make them appear genuine, police said.
Additional DCP (South Lucknow) Rallapalli Vasanth Kumar said the gang also used ChatGPT to obtain information about ticket dimensions and paper quality so the fake tickets could closely resemble original ones.
According to police, the gang used 170-GSM paper sheets and edited tickets to imitate genuine IPL entry passes before selling them at inflated prices to unsuspecting spectators and collecting payments through UPI transactions.
The accused were identified as Srikant Borkar (30), Nutan Kumar Sahu (28), Rajendra Chaudhary (29) and Vishwajeet Sahu (22), all residents of Durg district in Chhattisgarh.
Police said Vishwajeet Sahu worked as a 2D/3D designer and handled the fake ticket editing work, while the others were involved in arranging sales and payments.
The arrests were made Thursday evening near Dodankheda crossing under the Sushant Golf City police station area following a joint operation by the Lucknow Cyber Cell and local police.
The case came to light after complainant Pradeep Singh, a resident of Jalaun district, approached police alleging that he had purchased two IPL tickets from unidentified persons outside the Ekana Stadium for Rs 1,000 through a UPI payment.
However, stadium staff later informed him that the tickets were fake when he attempted to enter the venue, police said.
Based on his complaint, a case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and an investigation was launched.
During interrogation, the accused told police that they had earlier purchased black-market tickets during a match in Raipur and successfully entered the stadium, which inspired them to start preparing counterfeit tickets.
Police said the gang had also travelled to Delhi on May 4 in a Ritz car to sell fake tickets outside Arun Jaitley Stadium (Delhi), but failed because the ticket quality and barcode matching were poor.
After improving the ticket design, the gang arrived in Lucknow on May 6, checked into a hotel and began selling fake tickets outside the Ekana Stadium the next day, police said.
According to investigators, online payments from buyers were mainly routed into the bank account of accused Srikant Borkar.
Police recovered 15 fake IPL tickets, 14 additional counterfeit tickets printed on 170-GSM paper sheets, blank paper sheets, four mobile phones, an ASUS laptop, paper cutters, ATM cards, bank documents and the Ritz car allegedly used in the operation.
Further investigation is underway, police added. PTI KIS PRK
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