High alert over matchfixing scare
LUCKNOW : With Uttar Pradesh being a happy hunting ground for cricket match-fixers and bookies, security agencies, including the AntiCorruption Unit (ACU) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), have gone on high alert ahead of the November 6 Twenty20 match between India and West Indies here.
“The anti-corruption unit of the BCCI has been tracking activities of certain individuals as we apprehend bookies and match-fixers may try to contact players, officials, grounds men etc during the match in UP,” an ACU official said on condition of anonymity on Tuesday.
Director general of police OP Singh said: “The Special Task Force (STF) has been asked to keep close eye on betting and match-fixing hot spots and suspected bookies.”
“Several suspicious people, whose names have surfaced in such activities in the past, and their close associates are under police scanner with their mobile numbers being under electronic surveillance. Moreover, the state agencies have also sought help from central and other states’ agencies to keep a tab on such activities,” said Singh.
A senior Special Task Force official said his force was in touch with Mumbai and Delhi police sleuths who have been working on match-fixing and betting cases for the past many years.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath urged women to participate in the recruitment of 50,000 police personnel expected from January and said more women in the police force would scare the ‘road Romeos’ (harassers) away.
“Someone asked me why entry of women in police force was being encouraged and I told them that it was to scare and thrash the road Romeos and the hoodlums away. Our anti-Romeo squads have done a good job in checking incidents of crime against women and more women in police would automatically improve things further,” he said. He made the remarks while attending a meeting of BJP’s women wing on Tuesday. He also said his party favoured 33% reservation for women.
Adityanath also told women who are part of BJP that they would have an important role to play in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“If the Mahila Morcha can ensure five women in each booth, we would be able to win 75 seats from UP in the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.