Ahmedabad, May 29 (IANS) Two men were arrested by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Friday for allegedly black-marketing tickets for the Indian Premier League (IPL) final, scheduled to be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium on May 31.

Police said the accused were caught with match tickets during a patrol operation on Sindhu Bhavan Road as part of a city-wide crackdown on illegal ticket resale ahead of the high-profile fixture.

According to the Crime Branch, separate police teams had been deployed across Ahmedabad to monitor black marketing and unauthorised resale of IPL final tickets.

Acting on what officials described as “specific information”, officers intercepted two suspects while patrolling and recovered four tickets for the IPL final from their possession.

The arrested accused were identified as Mann Patel, 19, a resident of Galleria Tulip on Premchandnagar Road in Bodakdev, and Safiq alias Bunny Mohammad Ayub Ansari, 24, a resident of Kamdar Maidan in Gomtipur.

A case has been registered at the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) police station under Sections 33(1)(Ex) and 131 of the Gujarat Police Act.

Apart from the tickets, officers also seized two mobile phones allegedly used in the operation, including a Vivo handset valued at Rs 25,000 and an Apple iPhone 17 Pro model valued at Rs one lakh. The total value of the seized property was estimated at Rs 1.25 lakh.

“The original price of the seized tickets is Rs 3,500 each. They were selling at Rs 10,000. As of now, they have not sold any tickets. They bought the tickets online and went out to sell at an inflated price,” an official told IANS.

The IPL 2026 final is scheduled to take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 31.

Ticket demand for the match has remained high since sales opened earlier this month, with general tickets selling out shortly after release.

The latest arrests are part of a broader crackdown by Ahmedabad police on ticket touting linked to major cricket events hosted at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

In March this year, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested two men near the Gujarat Vidyapith ST bus stand in Usmanpura for allegedly black marketing tickets for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 final between India and New Zealand.

Police recovered eight tickets from the accused and alleged that they were being sold at nearly three times the original price, with the suspects reportedly demanding Rs 10,000 per ticket.

In another case ahead of the same T20 World Cup final, Ahmedabad police arrested five people in separate operations near Narendra Modi Stadium and other parts of the city for allegedly reselling tickets at inflated prices.

According to police, some tickets priced at Rs 2,000 were allegedly being offered for as much as Rs 22,000, while authorities also received complaints about suspected counterfeit tickets circulating online.

–IANS

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