In what could be termed as a prize catch for the district police investigating into cricket be-tting racket, the police have arrested a disco jockey (DJ), the kingpin, in Bengaluru.
According to a source, Chetan alias ‘Katthe’, a resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru, is the kingpin now in police net. He is the son of a prominent jeweller on M G road in Chikkamagaluru. He was taken into cusody from his apartment on Friday early hours.
Chetan who was a professional DJ, was regular in reputed resorts, clubs, star hotels and also the marriage ceremony of elite families in the capital. He was involved in betting from the past five years, according to the investiagators, who have been quizzing him in an undisclosed location.
The investigators, who have also seized his mobile phone, are learnt to have gleaned further information on ‘high-profile’ punters in the racket.
Chetan who was controlling the racket in the name of ‘Bengaluru Hotline’ monitoring the illegal activity at Chikkamagaluru and other districts, was earlier operating in the code name ‘Santhu,’ before switching over to another code, ‘Katthe.’
City Municipal Council (CMC) member and BJP leader Ravikumar alias ‘Kaayi’ Ravi who was arrested by the district police recently, is also part of the racket.
Ravikumar had spilled beans about the involvement of Chetan and two others from Sakleshpur in Hassan district. The investigators had confirmed it after crosschecking the information with call detail records and also a laptop seized from Ravi. While the investigators are on the trail of Chetan’s aides, two others in Sakleshpur have gone underground fearing arrest.
The investigators, who were making all efforts to trace Chetan from past one week, got a shot in the arm when their higher-ups gave them carte blanche without succumbing to any pressure. Chetan, with his professional contacts, was rubbing shoulders with who’s who of the society, the one point that had emboldened him to keep police at arms length. It was also suspected that the informers in Police department were hand in golve with him, passing on the information.
On the other hand, circle police Inspector Krishnaraju-led team has taken two aides of Ravikumar into custody on the suspicion of their involvement in the racket. One is a resident of Naraganahalli and another is from Kalyan Nagar, it is learnt.
Three others, including a punter from Ande Chatra and two who had previously appeared before CID personnel probing DySP Kallappa Handibag’s case, have been taken into custody by district Crime Investigation Bureau personnel headed by inspector Manjunath.
MLA and former minister C T Ravi had levelled a grave allegation against the police for extorting innocents in the name of interrogation in the case. Following this, the investigating officers were also reluctant to continue the probe and SP K Annamalai had also announced to set up a separate team after April.
The unabated cricket betting racket that came to limelight recently after the arrest of Ravikumar and five of his aides, who were released on bail later, acted like a trigger, with the police getting into the skin of the racket.
DH had carried a series of write-ups unfolding nitty-gritty of the racket.
