FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
VIBHA VERMA
PANJIM: The underlying suspicion that people held about casinos seems to have been vindicated with the Delhi police’s Special Cell team, investigating the IPL scam having come up with indications and leads that some of Goa’s off-shore casino vessels were used by the bookies and suspected match fixers to set up shop.
According to highly placed police sources, the modus operandi seem to have connected with the ‘punters’ and high rollers who frequent casinos.
The IPL spot-fixing scandal, which erupted after the arrests of three Rajasthan Royals cricketers, spread its tentacles to Goa with the arrest of six bookies, Sunday night. Now it appears that it had also cast its shadow on off-shore casinos in Goa.
The Delhi Police team, while in Goa, had searched some of these vessels in a bid to nail the ‘fixers’ and ‘bookies’ with whom the arrested cricketers and other players suspected in the scam were in constant touch. Despite leads about their stay in Goa, the team is back to Delhi, empty-handed.
Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police’s Special Cell Sanjeev Yadav conceded the team had raided specific locations but in vain. “The team had raided specific locations based on credible information that fixers and bookies who fled (Delhi) after the expose had taken shelter in Goa but they couldn’t be traced,” he told Herald over the phone from Delhi.
The Delhi police do not rule out the possibility that players gambled in the off-shore casinos and most probably were in touch with the absconders.
About the controversial paceman S Sreesanth, whose Goa links have emerged, Yadav confirmed he is a frequent visitor to Goa.
“He (Sreesanth) has many people he knows in Goa. He keeps coming to Goa. Our team questioned them but their links (in the spot-fixing) have not been established yet,” was his only comment. The Delhi police may revisit Goa, the officer added, if specific leads crop up.
Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, when contacted by Herald, said he would comment only after he is briefed about the investigation by the team.
Meanwhile, in an interesting development into the arrests of six Mumbai bookies in Goa, the Delhi police claim they are not linked to the IPL scandal.
“Our team interrogated the bookies. No links with Delhi bookies or cricketers have been established yet. It is not a fit case to the main investigation,” Yadav asserted.
Paresh Asarpota, Ketan Chawda, Ritesh Patel, Amit Papat, Sandeep Asarpota and Nikunj Lalan, who were arrested from a rented villa in Candolim have applied for bail. The Goa police, adamant they have links in the IPL scandal, will be traveling to Mumbai based on certain leads it achieved through interrogation and seized evidence.
Night clubs too?
The betting syndicates in Goa operated from some of the famous night clubs where the recently concluded edition of IPL was screened live on big screens. Police claim that bookies, who would accept bets from various people on phones, would hover around such places.
“Unsuspecting places like night clubs or happening places were selected to operate betting. Either people would place the bets in person or over phones,” Goa police sources said.
