The Enforcement Directorate has busted a major multi-crore cricket betting racket in Gujarat with suspected links spread to other States and countries.
On Thursday, the ED detained Girish Patel alias Tommy and Kiran Thakkar alias Mala and others from Vadodara after a tip-off. Sources from the agency told The Hindu that the transaction trail has led them to bookies from Dubai and Pakistan.
While mobile phones were used for betting purposes within India, online communication service such as Skype was used in international transactions, in addition to online betting websites.
The estimated daily transaction from the betting was Rs. 5 crore with a daily turnover of Rs. 25 to 30 crore. ED sleuths have recovered electronic data and transaction records related to cricket matches over the last two years, including the IPL tournaments and the ongoing World Cup matches, which could peg the estimated total betting turnover to hundreds of crores.
The agency is currently investigating the case under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act where gambling is a bailable offence.
The detainees have been on previous occasions been arrested by various agencies for betting and gambling, sources said. They were nabbed from a farmhouse on the outskirts of Vadodara. The ED has recovered a hundred mobile phones and a dozen laptops.
