NEW DELHI: In an effort to combat illegality ticket sales for the upcoming concerts of Coldplay and Diljit DosanjhExecutive Directorate (Ed) on Saturday launched search operations in five states in the country — Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Bangalore. After the raid, the investigating agency said it had detected “irregularities” in the money laundering probe into black-marketing of tickets for these events.
This action follows numerous FIRs lodged in states for alleged fraudulent sale of tickets for the much-awaited events.
The raids were aimed at stopping the illegal sale of tickets for Dosanjh’s ‘Dilluminati’ tour, which starts on October 26 in Delhi NCR, and Coldplay’s ‘Music of the Spheres’ world tour, scheduled for January 18 and 19 next year at the stadium DY Patil of Mumbai.
“Searches and investigations by the ED have revealed information regarding several persons known to provide such tickets, including fake tickets through social media using Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram,” the ED said in a statement.
High demand for tickets has fueled black market sales, with fans dealing with either counterfeit or legitimate tickets at vastly inflated prices. Numerous FIRs have been filed across the country, including a complaint by Bookmyshow against several suspects accused of exploiting concertgoers by selling fake tickets and jacking up prices at these sought-after events.
In response, the ED on October 25 launched an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and conducted searches at over 13 locations across five states – Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Chandigarh.
During these operations, the investigating agency allegedly seized various items including mobile phones, laptops and SIM cards used in the fraudulent activities.
ED investigations also revealed the alleged involvement of individuals who were distributing fake tickets through social media platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram.