NAVI MUMBAI, July 20 -- The police on Friday booked seven middlemen from the APMC market for allegedly stealing large quantities of rice that was being transported from a supplier and selling it in the black market at a lower price. The money they made from the fraud, estimated to be Rs.2.75 crore, was invested in cricket betting, the police said. The complaint was filed by Jeevan Bhayyaji Kotamwar, 56, manager at Shri Venkateshwara Corporation, a wholesale supplier of rice from Chandrapur. According to the complaint, the corporation had a tie-up with Dalal Nandu Traders from the APMC market. Manager of Dalal Nandu Traders, Jignesh Ramesh Gajara, was responsible for collecting rice from the supplier in Chandrapur and transporting it to the APMC market in Thane, said a police officer. The investigation has revealed that from June 2024 to June 2025, Gajara allegedly colluded with other traders of the APMC market, namely Vipul Dama, Deep Gori, Chetan Bhadra, Naresh, Mohit Bhadra, Harsh, and other unidentified persons to commit the fraud. "Instead of delivering the stock to designated traders, they diverted truckloads of rice, sold the rice outside the market at lower rates, generated fake bills under the name of a fictitious company, and forged GST numbers to make the transactions appear legitimate," the officer said. "The accused is alleged to have used the profits to place bets during cricket matches," said the officer investigating. After the accused kept delaying the payments, Kotamwar approached the police....