IPL spot-fixing: Proceeds from T20 betting used to fund terrorist outfits, says police

Mumbai : The spot-fixing scandal convulsing Indian cricket has got formally linked to terror financing and Pakistan, with the Mumbai Police telling a court that proceeds from betting on Indian Premier League matches were being routed to fund militant organisations.
The police also told the court this week about the scale of the betting operation, which spans thousands of traders and businessmen connected through a landline network and generates a daily turnover of hundreds of crores of rupees during the IPL season.
 In written submissions to a Mumbai court this week, a copy of which has been accessed by ET, Mumbai Police's Crime Branch has spoken about how the cash generated from the illegal betting activity gets routed to Dubai via the hawala route and then reaches Pakistan, where it is "probably being used" to fund terrorist organisations.

Police has List of Numbers

"We are in a position to establish how money gets routed to Dubai and then reaches Pakistan. This money is probably being used to fund terrorist organisations," Inspector Nandkumar Gopale, who is leading the Crime Branch investigation in the case, said in the remand application to the Mumbai metropolitan court.
"If we get an opportunity to investigate, we will be able to establish this connection. We have a list of 30 telephone numbers being used internationally from Pakistan, and many of these are suspected to be used by terrorists or terror organisations. We need to investigate this further," the police said.
The spot-fixing scandal, which burst into the open last week and has since been snowballing, has already ensnared cricketers, IPL team owners, bookies and minor Bollywood figures. The latest submission to the court, linking IPL betting and spot fixing to Pakistan and terror financing, sharply escalates the ambit of the scandal.
The Crime Branch has arrested several bookies whose interrogation has shed light on how the betting money gets routed. Those arrested by the Mumbai Police include Ashok Lakhpatrai, who was picked up last week, and Ramesh Vyas, who was the first to be arrested.
The police's remand application noted that it had seized 92 mobile phones from Vyas and Lakhpatrai. Of these phones, about a third were being exclusively used to make calls to persons based in Pakistan. Eighteen international SIM cards were also found with the bookies, most of which were obtained using fake names or names of people based abroad. Police say a massive hawala operation could be unearthed if these leads are investigated.
The police have also come across an elaborate network of dedicated landlines that was being used by bookies to set rates. Crime Branch officials said Vyas, Shobhan Mehta a.k.a. Shobhan Kalachowky and some others were given the authority to set the betting rates, while Sunil Dubai, who the police believe is linked to fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim, co-ordinated this internationally. Crime Branch officials said the bookies involved had admitted the involvement of the underworld and said a galaxy of wealthy traders, businessmen and Bollywood personalities have been involved in betting on IPL matches.
A Crime Branch officer said bookies have claimed the involvement of more players in spot fixing. Officers said some junior players may be put under the scanner, but refused to divulge details.

Source : The Economic Times