The Mumbai Police on Tuesday said Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf may have had links with bookies.
Sources in the police said Mr. Rauf associated himself with bookies “in a suspicious manner, which needs to be looked into.”
Last week, the International Cricket Council issued a release, stating that Mr. Rauf was removed from the panel of umpires for the Champions Trophy from June 6 to 21.
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The umpire may have revealed pitch and weather conditions ahead of international matches, said the sources based on their questioning of apprehended Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh, who has alleged that Mr. Rauf passed on such information to absconding bookie-brothers Pawan and Sanjay Jaipur.
The police said they were also investigating whether a Karnataka-circle SIM card that was allegedly given by Sanjay Jaipur to Mr. Rauf, was destroyed on the instructions of Mr. Singh before his arrest.
Investigators intend to dig deeper into the nexus between Mr. Singh, Mr. Rauf, and Sanjay Jaipur — who apparently managed to escape to Dubai with Mr. Singh’s aid.
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The sources said the Mumbai Crime Branch intended to confront Mr. Singh and others arrested in the case with Ashwin Agarwal alias Tinku, who was nabbed by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.
The police said CSK principal Gurunath Meiyappan leaked vital team strategies to Mr. Singh by relaying information on batting and bowling information and player injuries.