A bookie who was allegedly accepting bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) matches was arrested here today and cash as well as gold worth Rs 1.54 crore was seized from his possession, police said.
"Vinod Mulchandani, a resident of satellite area, has been arrested for accepting bets on IPL-6 matches. Cash worth Rs 1.28 crore, 10 gold biscuits (weighing 1 kg) worth Rs 26 lakh, 12 cell phones, 6 electronic board chargers, 2 laptops, 2 internet dongles, an I-pod and a driving license were recovered from his possession," Crime Branch, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) A K Sharma told reporters here.
Primary interrogation of Mulchandani has revealed that his accomplice Sheetal Shah and other bookies Jeetu Tharad, Rakesh Rajkot, Kiran Thakkar and Chirag Maninagar also accepted bets on cricket matches and passed on information to a top-level bookie in Mumbai.
Police are on the lookout for his accomplice.
According to police, Mulchandani's network was spread across Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Amreli and Ahmedabad, from where he used to accept bets from punters and sub-agents on cricket matches.
"An SMS from an unknown number regarding Hyderabad losing a certain match 10-15 days ago was found from his mobile. He was asked to make maximum gains from the information from the SMS. We will trace that number and question him further to seek more details," Sharma said adding that they are inquiring if he is connected with match fixing in any way.
The arrest comes after Gujarat government issued an advisory to police chiefs of all districts to crack down on bookies and bettors.
The Gujarat link has figured prominently in the multi-crore IPL match fixing scandal.
Gujarat cricket player Amit Singh was arrested by the special cell of Delhi police last Thursday, for offering money to Indian pacer S Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals teammates -- Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan --- for indulging in spot-fixing in at least three IPL matches as per arrangements with bookies who have underworld connections abroad.
Following their arrest, another bookie Manan Bhatt from the state was also arrested.
