Arbaaz grilled, director Sajid Khan next on cops’ radar

After having questioned Bollywood actor-producer-director Arbaaz Khan, sleuths of the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Thane crime branch police are planning to grill film director-television personality Sajid K Khan in connection with the ongoing investigations into the IPL betting scam.

Talking to mediapersons at Thane on Tuesday, yesteryear encounter specialist and current AEC in-charge Pradeep Sharma said that Sajid’s name figured during the interrogation of key bookie Sonu Yogendra Jalan, alias Sonu Malad, who was arrested on May 29 on various charges, including providing betting software to five other bookies in the metropolis.

Sources said that the investigations had revealed that Sajid, the brother of Bollywood director and choreographer Farah Khan, used to bet on cricket matches. “Sajid may be summoned for questioning later this week or early next week,” a senior police officer said.

 Sajid (47) is an actor and has also directed films like “Hey Babby”, “Housefull 1,” “Housefull 2” and others. He has also hosted several television shows.

Apart from Jalan, Arbaaz – who was questioned for five hours on Saturday last --  revealed the names of some Bollywood personalities who were indulging in betting. 

Arbaaz, who was let off after questioning, is likely to be made an approver in the case.

Meanwhile, the CBI, which has investigated the earlier IPL scam, is keeping a close tab of the ongoing investigations into the IPL betting scam by the Thane AEC.

“A CBI team has contacted us and asked us if it can question or interrogate some of the persons involved in the late3wst IPL scam. As of now, there is absolutely no proposal to hand over the case to the CBI,” a senior police officer said. 

Arbaaz’s name had cropped up during the interrogation of Sonu Jalan (41) who was arrested on Tuesday in connection with a massive betting racket that the Dombivli police busted on May 16. The police had arrested four bookies--Gautam Savla, Nitin Punjani, Nikhil Sampat, and Khushal Khimji from a shop at Dombivli.

Among other things, Arbaaz had told the investigators on June 2 that even though he had placed bets on cricket matches for the past six years, he himself had not indulged in any financial transaction – a claim he made apparently to find an escape route from being nailed under the provisions of Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887.

Arbaaz had also spoken in detail about his relations with Jalan and the threats that he had been receiving from the latter in recent months on the money to the tune of Rs 3 crore that he purportedly owed to the bookie in connection with the bets that he had placed through him and lost.

Jalan, who allegedly has links with Karachi-based don Dawood Ibrahim and is a partner in the betting syndicate run by Jr Kolkata, is linked to 80-odd big bookies operating across the country and he also has several celebrities as his clients. He has clients in countries like Afghanistan. Pakistani, South Africa and Saudi Arabia and his gang members run betting rackets in Delhi, Kolkata, Rajasthan and Haryana.

Arbaaz is the second film personality to have been linked to betting on cricket. Earlier Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh had been arrested on May 21, 2013for his alleged links with bookies involved in the IPL spot-fixing scam, involving among others the then BCCI chief N Srinivasan’s son-in-law and former team principal of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Gurunath Meiyappan, Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf, 15 bookies from Pakistan and two Dubai-based bookies.