Telangana CID Arrests Hyderabad Cricket Chief in IPL Ticket Scam

The Telangana Crime Investigation Department arrested Hyderabad Cricket Association president Jagan Mohan Rao late on 9 July, detaining him and four other association officials on charges of embezzlement and irregularities in the sale of tickets for Indian Premier League 2025 matches at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. The crackdown followed a Vigilance and Enforcement Department investigation that concluded Rao and colleagues manipulated complimentary and corporate-box ticket allocations and siphoned related revenues. The probe was triggered by a formal complaint from IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad, which alleged the officials demanded additional tickets beyond the 10 per-cent quota—about 3,900 seats at the stadium—locking corporate boxes and threatening the club ahead of its 27 March home game against Lucknow Super Giants. Police said the detainees are being questioned on suspected criminal breach of trust and criminal intimidation. Authorities indicated further financial-crime charges could be added once a forensic audit of HCA’s accounts is completed.