Police detain two men on betting suspicion in Dehradun

The district police detained two men in a suspected case of betting on the three-match T20 series between Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The series is being played at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun.

The two men, whose identities were not revealed by the police, were seeking details of the Sunday’s match from an official of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) at the stadium on Saturday evening, the police said.

The two men, around 30-year-old, were detained for questioning after the ACB official grew suspicious of the two and informed the police deployed at the stadium for security.

The police, after questioning the two men, claimed that they were not bookies and had no connection with “any sort of cricket betting”. However, a source privy to the arrangements of the match said that the two are suspected to have links with bookies and were trying to fix the match.

Speaking to HT, the source said, the two men were present in the stadium in the evening on Saturday. “One of them is from Dehradun and another from Delhi. They approached an ACB official present at the stadium and started enquiring about the Sunday’s match,” said the source.

He added that initially the official answered their queries, but later grew suspicious when they started enquiring about the probable Afghan team for Sunday’s match. “He grew suspicious when the two asked him about the players to be picked for the first T20 on Sunday. It was then, he called the police and informed them about the two, who were then taken away by police,” the source said.

Dehradun senior superintendent of police Nivedita Kukreti, while speaking to HT, confirmed that two suspicious men were questioned by police on Saturday, but denied that they were bookies.

“Yes two men were detained for questioning after they approached the ACB official identified as Basheer. Though no player was present in the stadium at that time. One of the men work in an NGO, while the other hails from Delhi. Police also verified their details and found no bookie connection with them,” said Kukreti.

“The police are vigilant and hopeful that no untoward incident will happen during the series,” she added.