Gujarat court denies ED custody of Mumbai 'bookie' Jaisinghani, to be sent back to Taloja

Enforcement Directorate, Ahmedabad zone, brought alleged cricket bookie Anil Jaisinghani from Taloja jail in Mumbai nearly eight years after lodging Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket betting case involving money laundering.

The Mumbai-based alleged bookie was brought to Ahmedabad on transfer warrant and was formally arrested on Saturday afternoon. He was produced before the special court and ED sought his ten days remand. The court refused to send him in ED's custody, forcing the central agency to take him back to Taloja jail in Mumbai.

ED's lawyer Rajesh Kanani said that primarily the court rejected the remand application on the ground of Jaisinghani's health as he was suffering high blood pressure. The court also refused the plea while stating that the case was registered way back in 2015. He added that Jaisinghani will be sent back to Taloja jail in Mumbai.

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Jaisinghani and his daughter Aniksha were recently arrested by Maharashtra police for hatching a conspiracy to blackmail Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis's wife Amurta. ED swung into action after after Jaisinghani's arrest and a team brought to him to Ahmedabad on transfer warrant.

In 2015, a team of ED officials had tried to arrest Jaisinghani from his home in Pune but returned empty handed after his family members created a ruckus. Later on a non-bailable warrant was issued against him. ED has alleged that Jaisinghani is the "kingpin" of the betting racket worth thousands of crores. Jaisinghani is the 11th accused in this case while ten have been chargesheeted. They are all out on bail.

This case saw a dramatic twist after CBI arrested ED's then joint director J P Singh and investigating officer Sanjay Kumar, who passed away during the coronavirus pandemic, on the charges of bribery. It was alleged that the two officers took bribes from the cricket bookies who were being investigated. CBI alleged that the officers took crores of money as bribe but couldn't find the money trail.

Following the arrest of Singh and Kumar, the case which was touted as ED's first case of cricket betting involving hawala and money laundering, has remained in cold. ED had issued summons to Jaisinghani to appear before in 2019.