Acting on a tip-off last month about an illegal trading operation Dabba or box trading in Mumbai’s Mahavir Nagar, Kandivali West, the crime branch arrested a 50-year-old from Surat. Bhupen Babubhai Kheni allegedly had been involved in the betting racket and took 3% of the profits from the operations, police officials told a media house.
The police, accompanied by representatives of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) of India, also conducted a raid on the place of Jatin Mehta, 45, who did not have a trading licence.
Mehta, the mastermind behind the racket, was arrested for illegally running the racket. During the investigation, police found transactions worth approximately Rs 4,672 crore reportedly made from his office, which caused a revenue loss of Rs1.95 crore to the government.
Additionally, the crime branch seized Rs 50,000 in cash and five mobile phones along with a laptop, tab and other electronic equipment from his office, the police confirmed.
For the uninitiated, Dabba or box trading implies illicit trading practices outside stock exchanges. Essentially, it’s gambling centred around stock price movement. Winning a bet leads to earning the difference.
After interrogating Mehta, the police also arrested Vijay Gada, 28, Vijay Rathod, 57 and Hiten Makwana, 45, last month. The trio allegedly coordinated with Mehta.
Last week, the police arrested another accused, Dhiman Gandhi who, Mehta alleged, had provided him a mobile phone application for running the betting racket. The media report said it was Gandhi who revealed the name of Kheni as the one who provided the application.
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