Three top bookies, all with past criminal records, have come under the scanner of the Thane Police Crime Branch, after arrested bookie Sonu Jalan named them as his associates.
Mr. Jalan was arrested by the Anti Extortion Cell of the Thane Crime Branch in May in connection with a racket in which bets were being accepted on Indian Premier League matches. Mr. Jalan is alleged to have been running the racket.
Thane Crime Branch officers said inquiries indicate that the three bookies, Sandeep Chhabra alias Pawan Jaipur, Chandresh Jain alias Jupiter and Mukesh Sharma alias Mukesh Delhi, are abroad. “Mr. Jalan has named them as his associates, and we have information to indicate that he was in constant touch with them. We are verifying their specific involvement in our case,” an officer said.
Mr. Chhabra, a Jaipur native, is the co-owner of a jewellery outlet chain in his hometown. He and Mr. Jain were named as accused in the 2013 IPL betting case by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. “Mr. Chhabra was found to be in constant touch with Vindoo Dara Singh, who was also arrested in the case. We also found that Mr. Singh helped Mr. Chhabra and his brother flee to Dubai,” a Mumbai Crime Branch officer said. Mr. Singh and Mr. Chhabra have been named in the Mumbai Crime Branch’s charge sheet, and the case is pending trial.
Mr. Sharma, meanwhile, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2015 in connection with hawala rackets and money laundering operations of betting rackets. “All the three bookies are old hands in the game and are much superior to Mr. Jalan in the bookie hierarchy. We are conducting inquiries to find out if any of them have direct links to organised crime syndicates,” the officer said.
Senior police inspector Pradeep Sharma, Thane AEC, said, “Certain names have come up in our investigations and we are verifying the information.”
Earlier, Mr. Jalan had named another top bookie, Dilip Ludhani, an aide of fugitive Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar. Mr Ludhani is alleged to be the kingpin of the betting racket.