Vijay Barhate, the alleged mastermind behind the IPL Talent Hunt racket busted earlier this month, was present with businessmen Priyank Saxena and Sobers Joban when they were caught on camera offering to fix cricket matches in international cricket tournaments, sources confirmed to The Hindu .
Barhate was arrested by the Property Cell of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch in December, along with two others for allegedly duping at least 11 budding cricketers of ₹68.06 lakh earlier this year. Investigating officers subsequently uncovered information indicating that Barhate was in touch with Saxena, a Delhi-based businessman and alleged bookie, and have been probing these links.
The Hindu is in possession of exclusive pictures in which Barhate is seen sitting next to Saxena in a five-star hotel in Delhi, in the second week of November this year, when The Sun , a British tabloid, conducted a sting. The Sun ’s reporters met Saxena and Joban, first in Dubai and then in Delhi, and secretly filmed them offering to fix matches in the Australian Twenty20 competition.
Two sources independently confirmed to The Hindu that it is indeed Barhate who is seen with Saxena and Joban in Delhi. Other sources said the Crime Branch has also examined the location history of Barhate’s and Saxena’s mobile phone numbers, which had shown their location in Delhi, in the same five-star hotel, in the second week of November.
“Barhate’s phone records show that he was also in touch with several other top bookies from Delhi and other parts of North India,” a Crime Branch officer said. “We suspect that he was part of a larger racket involving betting and spot fixing.” Another Crime Branch officer said, “Investigations have also pointed to the fact that a private company was registered in Pune earlier this year, with Barhate named as one of its directors. We are investigating whether Saxena or Joban had any links to this company. Barhate had earlier formed a club, the RN Sports Club, which was a front for his racket.”
RN Sports Club had, in 2013, received the contract to be the official sponsors for the Sunrisers Hyderabad team for the 2013 Indian Premier League tournament. The contract was terminated in 2014, after Barhate failed to pay pending dues. But, by then, he had had photographs taken with cricketing icons associated with the Sunrisers, like Krishnamachari Srikkanth and V.V.S. Laxman, which he subsequently used to give the impression that RN Sports Club was the official talent hunt partner for the team.
When asked about Barhate’s presence in Delhi with Saxena and Joban, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sanjay Saxena said, “Certain facts have come to light and we are verifying them.”
