MUMBAI: The Thane police are probing the alleged involvement of a former bar dancer in an online racket involving bets on
IPL matches. The bar dancer, whom the police identified only as Kajal, used to work at a beer bar in Malad, the police said. Three of her employees and her partner were arrested on Thursday after which Kajal has gone underground, said police inspector Pradeep Sharma.
On a tip-off, the police raided Ram Building in
Dombivli and arrested three bookies-Gautam Savla (43), Nikhil Sampat (53) and
Nitish Punjani (28). Besides, Kajal's partner, Kushal Khimji Malad alias Rambhiyya (41), has been arrested. The police seized two laptops, Rs 1.60 lakh, three cellphones and a diary containing contacts of punters.
The police said that the accused had hired the flat to run the betting racket. "They accepted bets on all IPL matches," said a police officer.
Police inspector
Rajkumar Kothambire said that the accused were accepting bets on their app 'betntake'. "When we swooped down on their den, they were accepting bets for a match which was to played at Wankhede Stadium between Mumbai Indians and King's
Eleven Punjab," said Kothambire, adding that the arrests took place on Thursday.
The police have little information on Kajal. An officer said her involvement in betting mirrors how bar dancers, now jobless, have taken to diverse activities for unemployment. In 2005, a crorepati bar dancer, Tarannum Khan, was arrested in a cricket betting scam.
