IPL betting: Cops summon brother of ex-cop, producer

The arrested producer has produced several Bollywood films, including Ram Gopal Varma-directed The Attacks of 26/11. (Representational Image)

The Thane Police, that is probing the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting case, has summoned Sameer Buddha — brother of former police officer Suhel Buddha — and film producer Parag Sanghvi.

The names of the duo cropped up during the interrogation of Sonu Jalan, a bookie arrested by the Thane Police last week. The police earlier questioned actor Arbaaz Khan after Jalan had claimed that the actor placed bets with him. Further, the police registered another FIR against Jalan for allegedly extorting from a trader. Sections of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) are also set to be invoked against Jalan.

Thane Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) Inspector Pradeep Sharma said, “During interrogation, Jalan has claimed that he has close ties with producer Parag Sanghvi. He has also mentioned Sameer Buddha, whose four-wheeler he was driving when we arrested him. We are issuing them summons today to appear before us by Tuesday, so that we can verify the information given by Jalan.”

Buddha is the brother of Suhel Buddha, a former police officer. He was an employee with News X and handled the finances of Peter Mukerjea, who was arrested by the CBI in connection with the murder of Sheena Bora, his stepdaughter. Sanghvi has produced several Bollywood films, including Ram Gopal Varma-directed The Attacks of 26/11.

Meanwhile, the Thane Police registered a case of extortion against Jalan, in addition to the two cases of betting already registered against him. Inspector Sharma said they had received a compliant from a spice trader that Jalan had taken Rs 25 lakh from him and the power of attorney of a house that the complainant had in the western suburbs.

AEC Inspector Rajkumar Kothmire said the complainant had approached them saying he lost money while placing bets through Jalan. “Since he was not able to make payment to Jalan, he made gangster Ravi Pujari call up and threaten the complainant. As per the complaint, Jalan has taken Rs 25 lakh from him, including the power of attorney of a flat he owned in the western suburbs of the city.”

Sharma said based on the past crime record of Jalan, they would approach the court for sections of the stringent MCOCA to be applied against Jalan. Once MCOCA is applied, a person normally finds it difficult to get bail for at least two to three years.

The Thane Police had busted the alleged extortion racket on May 16 with the arrest of five bookies operating from Dombivli. The bookies were allegedly using a software to place bets online. Based on their interrogation, the police arrested Sonu Jalan, one of the top bookies, earlier this week. According to police, the software called ‘Bet and Take’ that was being used by the bookies to place bets nationally and internationally was provided to the bookies by Jalan.

Jalan is believed to be associated with Dawood Ibrahim and linked to several other international bookies. He was arrested by the Mumbai Police in 2012 for betting on the IPL and had been eventually released on bail. There were also allegations of Jalan having been been involved in match-fixing. Jalan was also arrested by the CBI in 2016 in connection with a bribery case against the former joint director of Enforcement Directorate of Ahmedabad J P Singh.