Five bookies arrested for betting on T20 WC final

MUMBAI: The Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC), Mumbai crime branch, has arrested five bookies – including two brothers – from Thane, for allegedly accepting bets on the T20 world cup final between Pakistan and England.

Initial investigation has also revealed that the accused are involved in hawala transactions and had sent betting money to Dubai. “We are also probing their connection with the underworld,” said Dyaneshwar Ganore, police inspector, AEC.

The arrested accused are identified as Francis alias Vicky Anthony Dias, a Dahisar resident, Imran Ashraf Khan, a Naigaon resident, Dharmesh Vora, Dharmesh Shivdasani, and his brother Gaurav Shivdasani.

The accused used to write the number of cricket bets in a register after receiving calls from customers, said Ganore. Eight mobile phones, a laptop, SIM cards and cash of ₹12,500 have been seized from them.

According to the police, they acted on a tip-off about two persons who were accepting bets for the ongoing T20 cricket match between Pakistan and England in Dadar East. A police team from AEC raided the place and arrested Dias, 32, and Khan,40.

“Both of them were accepting bets and maintaining records in a diary, which was seized during the raid,” said Ganore.

“On checking the diary, we found names and contact numbers of several other bookies,” he added.