A punter-cum-fixer who was absconding for the last two months, was arrested in Jaipur on Sunday morning for his alleged involvement in the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal.
Infamous as Jupiter, Chand Prakash Jain alias Chandresh Jain, 35, was presented in a district court on Sunday, said a police officer.
He is the 30th catch so far in the scandal. Twenty-one of them are on bail, and eight in judicial custody. “A city court has sent him to police custody for five days,” said S N Srivastava, special commissioner of police (special cell) Jain was was arrested at a hotel in the Pink City.
Police said he was in direct contact with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s accomplices Javed Chutani and Salman, who are based in Pakistan.
Srivastava said Jupiter's grandfather was a jeweller in Ajmer. Jupiter shifted to Jaipur along with his father, who started a small shop there, exchanging torn notes.
After his graduation in 2007, his father sent Jupiter to Mumbai to join his uncle Ram Babuji, who was a builder. Babuji was also into punting and coordinated with bookies on prices. Jupiter too picked up the skills.
“There Jupiter met big-time bookie Ramesh Vyash, who is already arrested, and started working with him,” said Srivastava.
Meanwhile, Jupiter started his own booking booth with the help of Arvind, Uday and Rajesh, and formed a team which started accepting bets on matches. But Jupiter’s relation with the three men soured after a few months.
Later, with the help Vyash, Jupiter met some of the big names in the illegal betting industry, including Pakistani bookies. He then started his own betting racket in Jaipur.
Jupiter met Ashwini Aggrawal alias Tinku Mandi during the IPL matches in 2012.
A crime branch team of Jaipur Police raided his house and recovered a huge cache of cell phones and other electronic items used for betting in 2012. As a result, Jupiter could not operate for three to four months, but resumed work at a farmhouse in Jaipur last December
During the last IPL season, Jupiter reached an agreement with Tinku, making him a partner. Both decided to share profits equally.
When Delhi Police arrested Tinku, Jupiter was in Delhi. In a bid to evade arrest, he kept on changing addresses, moving also to Agra, Ujjain and Nagpur. Srivastava said Jupiter’s role has already been mentioned in the chargesheet filed before a Delhi court on July 30.
“Since Jupiter was a close aide of Tinku, his entire role in the IPL spot-fixing plot was as much as Tinku’s role,” he said.
Srivastava said Jupiter’s name cropped up in the intercepted conversations of different bookies.
The IPL scam came to light when three Rajasthan Royals players S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were arrested by Delhi Police in Mumbai on May 16. While Sreesanth and Chavan are out on bail, Chandila is still in Tihar Jail.