One more person allegedly involved in betting activities for the ongoing Indian Premier League matches was arrested by police from Nagpada in south Mumbai in west India taking to seven the total number of bookies held in the last three days.
Published: May 19, 2012, 10:05 PM (IST)
Edited: May 19, 2012, 10:05 PM (IST)
Police said one of the arrested bookies has claimed he had paid USD 1.8 million to a Sri Lankan cricket player for fixing a match about six years ago. © Getty Images
Mumbai: May 19, 2012
One more person allegedly involved in betting activities for the ongoing Indian Premier League matches was arrested by police from Nagpada in south Mumbai in west India taking to seven the total number of bookies held in the last three days.
The accused identified as Firoz Ansari (35) was nabbed on Friday night and produced on Saturday before a local court, which remanded him in police custody till May 25.
On Thursday, police had held six bookies, including two top bookies — Sonu Malad alias Batiya and Deven Kothari alias Bhaiji, on charges of betting.
Ansari was basically a mediator between those who wanted to bet and the six bookies who received betting, police said.
“The bookies had clients from abroad. Ansari acted as a mediator between bookies and the foreign clients,” a police officer said.
Police said one of the arrested bookies has claimed he had paid USD 1.8 million to a Sri Lankan cricket player for fixing a match about six years ago.
“Sonu and Deven are big catch for us. One of the two had told us that they had paid Rs 10 crore to a Sri Lankan player about six years ago to fix a match,” the officer said.
However, no details were provided on the identity of the cricketer or the match which was allegedly fixed.
The investigators were verifying the betting claim of the accused, the officer said, adding the six-year-old alleged match fixing did not seem to have had any links with the Indian Premier League matches as the first season of the IPL was played in 2008.
“We do not think it was anything to do with the IPL matches. IPL began in 2008 and the accused claimed he paid the money about six years ago,” the officer added.
The accused were using the world’s largest internet betting exchange “betfair” as platform to accept betting when the cops nabbed them, police said.
Police also claimed that some “big names” might surface for their alleged involvement in betting through the arrested accused. (PTI)
