An estimated collective amount of Rs 75,000 crore is involved in the global illegal cricket betting racket flourishing in every cricket playing nation. Highly placed sources in the Mumbai police claim that at least RS 500 crore revenue is generated in every T 20 match and the peak time these bets are placed is thirty minutes of the first half and the last thirty minutes of play of every match.
Ever since the inception of the Indian Premier League (IPL) the illegal match betting racket has been increasing by leaps and bounds as young and fresh players are hired by franchises to play for their respective teams in this money spinning game of entertainment and glamour.
A senior police official revealed that fresh talent rubbing shoulders with senior players in the field is too heady for the minds of these inexperienced and immature but talented players who sometimes outclass seasoned and accomplished players with their raw skills either in bowling or batting. Hence, there is a tendency among these young players getting drunk in their new found ego and also easily getting brow beaten or lured by mafia elements to indulge in spot fixing for a reasonable price.
He also revealed that bookies use the honey trap (providing lady escorts and starlets) first to lure unscruplous players in their fold and then later force down their throats to accept money to spot fix a match to their (bookies) advantage.
It is also learnt that around two weeks prior to the Special Cell of the Delhi police nabbing bookies from Delhi and Mumbai and followed by the arrest of the three cricketers- Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, an Assistant Commissioner of Police heading a local unit in the crime branch had summoned the bookies who were later arrested by Delhi police.
These bookies had managed to wield their influence at the senior level in the Mumbai police to circumvent their arrest by this crime branch ACP in Mumbai. It was only in the backdrop of the Delhi police swooping down on bookies in Mumbai, the city branch swung into action raiding bookies den and conducting a search in the hotel room at BKC where Sreesanth and his aide Jiju had checked in a day ago.
It is also believed that a player from Rajasthan Royal and two other members of Mumbai Indians did not fall for the bait, despite attempts made by the bookies who are now cooling their feet along with the three tainted cricketers in the lock up of the Special Cell of the Delhi police.
Sunil Amchandani alias Sunil Dubai who originally is a resident of Colaba and is currently holed up Dubai, is believed to be close to Tiger Memon, a key lieutenant of international fugitive Dawood Ibrahim , for whom he manages the multi-crore international match-fixing racket through a syndicate of bookies operating out of cities in India, Pakistan and Nepal.
It is too early to pinpoint whether Dawood Ibrahim’s one-time close aide-turned-arch foe, Chhota Rajan has played a major role in getting Sunil Amchandani’s syndicate busted or one of Memon’s rival in Dawood Ibrahim’s criminal outfit who also has interests in the business has a hand in exposing Memon’s ring of match-fixers.
In fact, Sunil Amchandani is on the lookout list of the Interpol and has been evading arrest in cases of illegal cricket betting registered by the Mumbai crime branch a couple of years back.
