A canteen employee at M Chinnaswamy Stadium has been arrested for selling over 100 IPL tickets at prices up to Rs 19,000 each in one of the biggest ticket black marketing busts in the tournament’s history.
The Central Crime Branch cracked down on the racket involving matches of Royal Challengers Bengaluru at their home ground in Bengaluru.
A KSCA member who allegedly supplied the tickets is currently on the run. The investigation has now widened to include private companies suspected of routing corporate tickets into the black market.
How Did the IPL Ticket Black Market Racket Operate
CCB officers arrested Chandrashekhar, an employee at Sri Lakshmi Canteen inside the Chinnaswamy Stadium premises. He allegedly sold tickets for the RCB vs KKR match on March 28 and the RCB vs LSG fixture at inflated rates. Each ticket fetched between Rs 15,000 and Rs 19,000, far above the original price.
Chandrashekhar possessed tickets across multiple seating categories. He contacted buyers directly through mobile phone calls to arrange sales.
During interrogation, he revealed that a KSCA member named Ganesh Parikshit provided the tickets and instructed him to sell them at higher prices. Police confirmed Parikshit is absconding and search operations are underway.
Corporate Ticket Channels Under Scanner
Investigators believe the tickets originally came through corporate channels before reaching intermediaries for illegal resale. The CCB has registered FIRs against managing directors of certain companies for allegedly helping divert tickets into the black market.
Police have also issued notices to DNA Network Management and plan to question its management about ticket distribution practices. The probe aims to uncover the full chain from corporate allocation to street level resale.
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What Does the Law Say About IPL Ticket Resale
CCB DCP Srihari Babu clarified an important legal distinction during the investigation.
- Reselling tickets at face value is not illegal
- Selling tickets above the original price in the black market is a criminal offence
- Both individuals and companies involved in inflated resale face prosecution
The investigation continues to identify the complete network behind the racket. This is not the first time ticket access at Chinnaswamy has sparked controversy.
Earlier this season, Karnataka MLAs complained in the state assembly about struggling to get tickets while alleging that the KSCA earns massive revenue from the venue. The black market bust now exposes a deeper systemic problem around how IPL tickets reach end consumers in Bengaluru.
