How many times have you wanted to buy an IPL ticket to get a first-hand experience in the stadium and have been gravely disappointed to not get one within a few minutes on the official site? A common occurrence that has always raised questions exposing the ticket black market that involves corporate entities and insiders, engulfing all the fun. Allegedly, a Bengaluru Stadium Canteen Staff member named Chandrashekhar, who is working at Sri Lakshmi Canteen inside the stadium, has sold 180 IPL tickets at a higher price recently.

The accused has been arrested by the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB). According to Bengaluru police, tickets were in high demand for the April 15th game between LSG and RCB at the home ground. This demand must have led to wrongdoing by an insider. The police confirmed to have only acted after getting a verified lead and information of a bulk ticket buy from a source, which was then distributed to the market for fans to buy at a higher price. According to reports, the RCB vs LSG tickets were illegally sold in the market, ranging from 15,000 to 19,000 per ticket.

 

Investigation leads to a pattern from the RCB vs CSK match, confirm Police

The police have been following the trail for a long time since the RCB vs CSK match on 28th March 2026. Further investigation by police revealed that for the April 15th game between RCB and LSG, the tickets were booked from an online ticket platform named Ticketgenie. Those tickets were bought in bulk under the names of Swastik Heavy Engineering and Industrial Automation Consultant Company, along with 50 tickets purchased in the name of Dharani Computers Company. These tickets were then diverted and sold in the market at higher rates.

In the RCB vs CSK match too, 81 tickets worth Rs 6,60,000 were bought under the same company name. Investigations revealed 181 tickets across various price categories, worth Rs 17,52,600, were sold through TicketGenie and then illegally resold on the black market.

During police interrogation, the arrested Canteen staff Chandrasekhar revealed that those rockets were actually supplied by KSCA member Ganesh Pareekshit, who asked them to sell at a higher price in the market. Pareekshit is on the run, as revealed by the police, and the search is still going on.

The question arises now is that the web of such illegal activities is so large in the market and being performed by insiders, making it more difficult to get exposed.