The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has detected alleged irregularities after it conducted raids in a money laundering probe into “black marketing” of tickets for Coldplay and Diljit Dosanjh’s concerts.
The searches were undertaken on October 25 at 13 locations in five states -- Delhi, Maharashtra (Mumbai), Rajasthan (Jaipur), Karnataka (Bengaluru) and Punjab (Chandigarh).
“Searches and investigation conducted by ED has revealed information regarding multiple individuals known for providing such tickets, including fake tickets through social media using Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram,” the ED said in a statement.
The agency added that several “incriminating” materials such as mobile phones, laptops, SIM cards, etc. used in the ticket sales “scam” were seized.
Normally, tickets are available on platforms like Zomato, BookMyShow and others but when the demand is very high, these tickets sell out quickly, leading people to seek alternate sources, the agency said.
The searches were aimed at investigating the illegal sales of tickets, financial networks supporting these scams, and tracing the proceeds of crime generated from such illegal activities, ED added.
The concerts -- Coldplay’s “Music of the Spheres World Tour” and Diljit Dosanjh’s “Dil-Luminati” -- generated immense excitement among enthusiasts leading to a rapid sellout of tickets on official platforms of Bookmyshow and Zomato Live.
However, the massive demand led to the black marketing of tickets at exorbitant prices with several reports emerging of individuals being cheated through fraudulent ticket sales.
After British band Coldplay announced its India tour recently, its tickets were sold out within minutes and later were available on unauthorised channels for amounts ranging up to as much as Rs 12 lakh for one ticket.
Coldplay is coming back to India after eight years. The band’s concerts are scheduled for January 18, 19 and 21, 2025 in Mumbai. The band will have shows at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
A similar situation occurred when Punjabi singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh announced his ‘Dil-Luminati World Tour’, the tickets for which were black marketed for over Rs 85,000.
Bookmyshow had filed an FIR against several suspects alleging they engaged in selling counterfeit tickets and inflating prices taking advantage of the high demand.
BookMyShow said it is not associated with any ticket-selling or reselling platforms such as Viagogo and Gigsberg or third-party individuals to resell Coldplay’s ‘Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025’ in India.
Earlier, Mumbai Police had summoned BookMyShow CEO Ashish Hemrajani amid a probe into alleged black marketing of Coldplay concert tickets.
(With inputs from agencies)