Delhi Police Friday got the custody of alleged bookie Ramesh Vyas, who was arrested by the Crime Branch of Mumbai police in connection with the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scandal, a police officer said.
Vyas, who was allegedly handling the south Indian betting syndicate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, was handed over to Delhi Police Friday. He is being brought from Mumbai to Delhi for further investigation, the officer said.
Delhi Police had submitted Vyas's production warrant in a Delhi court Tuesday seeking his custody.
"After completing legalities, he was handed over to us today (Friday). Now he is being brought to Delhi for further questioning in the IPL spot fixing scandal and his relation with underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel," the officer said.
"Vyas is being brought to the capital in a train. They have started this evening and are expected to come tomorrow (Saturday). Around half-a-dozen security personnel are accompanying him," added the officer.
Vyas was granted bail along with some other accused in the case on Tuesday. However, he was not released from police custody as Delhi Police had issued a production warrant against him the same day.
He had filed a complaint with a Mumbai court Wednesday saying that he had not been released by police despite the court granting him bail.
Mumbai police had seized 92 mobile phones and 18 SIM cards from Vyas after he was arrested May 18.
Exposing a turf-war between Mumbai and Delhi Police on the spot fixing case, Delhi Police sources claimed that they have been trying to take custody of Vyas, who was lodged in Mumbai's Arthur Jail Road, for the past three days but they could not as their counterparts raised procedural issues.
According to the claims of Delhi Police, the jail authorities refused to hand over his custody. They also insisted that their security personnel would bring him to Delhi.
"We had sent our security team there. But we acceded to their demand and let their security team bring Vyas here," said the officer.
Invoking stringent charges under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Rajasthan Royals players S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan and 23 others arrested in the case, Delhi Police told the court that Vyas handled Dawood's betting syndicate in south India.
Police also told the court that another bookie, Ashwani Aggarwal alias Tinku Mandy, arrested by Delhi Police, handled Dawood's betting syndicate in north India.
Both bookies, who allegedly made calls to gangsters in Karachi and Dubai, were conveying Dawood's commands to the three arrested players, including Sreesanth, the police alleges.
"We have telephonic intercepts in which some of the bookies had made calls to Dubai, Karachi and other cities of Pakistan to fix and alter betting rates," the officer said.
