More than 180 IPL 2026 tickets sold in black, stadium canteen worker arrested in Bengaluru

The Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested a stadium canteen worker for allegedly selling over 180 Indian Premier League (IPL) tickets in the black market , exposing a wider ticket diversion racket linked to corporate purchases and a suspected insider.

The accused, 49-year-old Chandrashekar P , was employed at the Sri Lakshmi Canteen inside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium . Police arrested him following a tip-off that IPL match tickets were being sold at inflated prices outside the stadium during the ongoing IPL 2026 season .

According to investigators, the racket came to light during the April 15 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) when officials received information about illegal ticket sales around the venue. Police later found that the accused had allegedly diverted tickets and resold them to fans at steep prices , sometimes charging between ₹15,000 and ₹19,000 per ticket , far above the original price.

The investigation revealed that 181 tickets worth about ₹17.52 lakh were purchased through an online booking platform and later sold illegally. Many of the tickets were bought under the names of private companies , including firms such as Swastik Heavy Engineering, Industrial Automation Consultant Company, and Dharani Computers , before being diverted to the black market.

Police also discovered a similar pattern during the March 28 IPL match between RCB and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) , when 81 tickets worth around ₹6.6 lakh were purchased under a company’s name and resold at inflated prices.

During questioning, the accused allegedly revealed that the tickets were supplied by a person claiming to be a member of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) . The suspect, identified as Ganesh Pareekshit , is currently absconding and police have launched a search operation to trace him.

Authorities have also registered cases against managing directors of certain private companies suspected of facilitating bulk ticket purchases used in the illegal resale scheme. Meanwhile, police have stepped up surveillance around the stadium, deploying plainclothes officers and conducting decoy operations to curb ticket black marketing during the remainder of the IPL season.