The Thane Police will be making actor Arbaaz Khan and producer Parag Sanghvi witnesses in the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting racket cases against bookie Sonu Jalan and five other accused. Senior PI Pradeep Sharma confirmed Mr. Khan and Mr. Sanghvi will be named as witnesses.
The accused, all alleged bookies, were arrested over 15 days last month for allegedly accepting bets on IPL matches. The annual cricketing extravaganza was held between April 7 and May 27. Police claimed Mr. Jalan is among the kingpins running the racket, and at least three bookies are still wanted in the case.
On Wednesday, Mr. Sanghvi made himself available for questioning to the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Thane Police Crime Branch. He spent two hours at the unit’s office before being allowed to leave. Police claimed Mr Jalan had told his interrogators that Mr. Sanghvi provided financial support to the racket in return for 20% of the profits.
A Crime Branch officer said, “Mr. Sanghvi has denied all allegations against him. He said he met Mr. Jalan at one of his restaurants in the western suburbs, and they stayed in touch.”
4 bookies absconding
The AEC is looking for four bookies, identified as Rakesh Rajdev alias RR Rajkot, Junior Kolkata, Chirag Vallabh and Munir Khan.
Police said the help of central investigative agencies will be sought for investigating this aspect. More names are likely to emerge as the probe progresses, they said, as all bookies linked to the racket so far operate on an international level. According to the police, they are connected to a comprehensive network of bookies in India and the Middle East.
A ‘line operating machine’ seized by the Thane AEC might prove key to identifying other players. “The machine is used to route multiple calls simultaneously and records all numbers that the calls were routed to. We are analysing the machine and identifying the numbers, many of which are international,” the officer said.
He added that Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar, currently in judicial custody in connection with an extortion racket, could be questioned about the gang’s betting activities. The officer said during interrogation, Mr. Kaskar had indicated he didn’t know much about this aspect.
Meanwhile, Mr Jalan, whose police custody expired on Wednesday, was produced in court, which extended his police custody by one day.
This is the lastest scandal to hit the cash-rich IPL, whose 11th season concluded on May 27. In previous years, the tournament has been under several clouds of controversy, including a spot-fixing racket which saw several players being arrested for their alleged roles.
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against several past and present BCCI officials, including Lalit Modi, for violating foreign exchange regulations during IPL-2, which was held in South Africa.
