Coldplay, Diljeet concerts: ED raids in 5 cities against ticket black marketeers

New Delhi, Oct 26: The outcry of British rock band Coldplay and actor-singer Diljeet Dosanjh fans over alleged black-marketing and counterfeiting of concert tickets has pushed the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to seize laptops and other digital devices during multi-city raids at 13 locations across five cities, an official said on Saturday.

The ED search operations in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Bangalore came amid allegations of illegal sale of tickets for Diljeet Dosanjh's 'Dil-Luminati' tour (October 21-December 29) and Coldplay's 'Music of the Spheres World Tour' (Mumbai, January 18-19, 2025) concerts, reportedly being sold in the grey market for as high as Rs 1,00,000 each.

The ED action was aimed at investigating the illegal sales of tickets, and the financial networks supporting these scams and tracing the Proceeds of Crime generated from such illegal activities, a statement said. Several culprits were identified by the ED during searches that pointed towards alleged wrongdoings through social media platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram.

The ED initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 and conducted searches on Friday at multiple locations and seized incriminating materials such as mobile phones, laptops and SIM cards used in the alleged scam, according to a statement. The official ticketing partners for the concerts, Bookmyshow and Zomato Live, claimed that tickets sold within minutes on their platforms leading to the black marketing of tickets at exorbitant prices.

Following the rapid sellout, numerous reports emerged of fans being cheated by conmen who either sold fake tickets or charged a high premium for selling them the tickets over social media platforms. Multiple FIRs have been filed in various states, including one filed by the online ticket booking platform Bookmyshow, against unnamed suspects believed to be exploiting concertgoers.

The FIR alleged that these individuals sold counterfeit tickets at drastically inflated prices, taking advantage of the high demand.