Amid a mad rush for tickets of the ISL final in football-crazy Kochi, the city police have launched a drive to check unauthorised selling of tickets at outrageous prices.
The drive followed the arrest of three youths identified as Mustafa, 19, of Malappuram; Gladin, 22, of Kangarappady, and Praveen, 21, of Neendakara. The police said that they were selling tickets of Rs. 300 for prices ranging between Rs.1,000 and Rs. 1,500.
Preliminary investigations revealed that they had procured bulk volume of tickets and posted messages on their Facebook pages looking for potential customers.
The trio have been booked under Sections 406 and 427 of the IPC for criminal breach of trust and they will be produced before a magistrate on Sunday.
Police deployment
“There have been reports about tickets being sold at inflated prices. Based on this input, police in plain-clothes have been deployed at various locations including the premises of the international stadium here,” said Arul R.B. Krishna, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kochi city.
Refuting reports of organised rackets engaged in the sale of tickets, the official said that the majority of those plying the trade were doing the business on their own.
