Betting mafia continues to have a vice-like grip on cricket. Now, astonishingly, some senior Gujarat police officials have been linked to cricket betting syndicates. The disclosures are likely to abort the careers of these senior cops. First, let’s get the details out of the way.
The State Monitoring Cell (SMC) arrested someone named Jignesh Soni last year on suspicion of being involved in a large-scale dabba trading and cricket betting ring at the PNTC building in Anandnagar. The police had also taken Khaitan Patel and Harsh Soni into custody. The cops recovered Rs 1.71 lakh cash, eight cell phones, three laptops, a writing pad, and a diary from the three.
According to investigations, claimed a report in a tabloid, their betting ring was connected to the ID of Radhe Exchange, allegedly a Dubai-based company founded by Raj Patel and Eric Shah.
Soni, who was given a 10-year sentence for killing Pradeep Don in Khadia, has only been free for 2.5 years.
“The diary from Soni purportedly lists payments made to police officers to facilitate the cricket betting and dabba trading operations while he was in prison and after his release. The matter is under scrutiny at the office of the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner,” a source told the tablot.
In a similar incident, the SMC raided a Worli Matka gambling establishment in Amraiwadi.
The main suspect Sachin Rajput was able to escape, but not before the police arrested several people and found a diary, an SUV, an iPhone, motorcycle keys, and Rs 17.44 lakh.
The diary reportedly has details of bribes to police officers.
Unnamed people in the know told the tabloid that high-ranking officers may be implicated and that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has taken over the investigation.
They have said that statements from people linked to Rajput have been recorded, and the report should be forwarded to the home department after preliminary investigations.
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