Nineteen held for cricket betting in West Bengal, M'rashtra, Rajasthan

 In a crackdown on cricket betting after the IPL spot-fixing scandal was busted, police have made more arrests with 19 people, including some bookies, being held in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

The arrests were made between Wednesday night and Thursday in connection with four separate cases.

Ten people, including one bookie, were held by a special team of Kolkata Police in the Ultanga area in the West Bengal capital for alleged involvement in a cricket betting racket.

“We have arrested 10 people, including a bookie, on Wednesday night. We are investigating the case. They will be produced before a court,” DC (DD special) Santosh Pandey said.

Initial investigations said they had betted on a match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super kings.

About Rs 3 lakh in cash and laptops were recovered from them, the police said. The bookie was identified as Ajit Surekha.

In Maharashtra, five people were arrested for allegedly betting on the IPL matches during a raid at a bungalow in Nashik, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, the police raided the Sai Palace bungalow Wednesday night and arrested the five bookies, Assistant Commissioner of Police Pankaj Rahane said.

Ten cellphones, a laptop and other betting related material were also seized from the place, he said.

Those arrested have been identified as Rajendra Savna, resident of Nashik Road, Sameer Mahindra Mantri, Praveen Bhutada, Ravindra Dhage and Pankaj Somani (all from Buldhana).

In Thane, three persons from Kalyan town in the district who allegedly accepted bets on behalf of Mumbai-based bookies were held by police.

Keval Ladharam Bhanushali, Chetan Ladharam Bhanushali and Sachin Jagannath Teli were taking bets on IPL matches at a place near the Annapurna Hotel in Gandhi Chowk when the police raided the premises on Thursday morning and nabbed them.

The CCTV footage of all IPL matches played at the Uppal stadium in Hyderabad have been seized. Also, in order to widen the sphere of the probe, Delhi police have deployed teams comprising five officials each and they have landed in Hyderabad and Goa, to pursue specific leads in those cities.