Two brothers who work as architects were detained last night for running online betting on the World Cup football matches which so far is believed to involve bets totalling RM5 million.

The brothers, aged 33 and 35, were detained at their house in Jalan Grik, Taman Rainbow, Kuala Lumpur at about 11pm.

The three-storey terrace house was equipped with close-circuit cameras and laser detectors, Kuala Lumpur police anti-gambling division operations officer ASP Goh Chee Kiat said.

He said police had to climb the fence and break down the grilled door of the house.

"There were closed-circuit cameras and laser detectors in the house compound but they failed to detect our presence until we arrested them on the top floor," he told reporters at the scene last night.

He said the brothers tried to switch off a computer with the screen displaying bets on the World Cup matches when they became aware of the police presence.

The computer was seized and they were detained under Section 6 (3) of the Betting Act 1953.

This is the first case in the Klang Valley since Ops Soga was launched to detect Internet gambling syndicates nationwide during the World Cup which started on Friday.

- Bernama