Dial D: Cops ask ED to probe hawala angle in spot-fixing

Delhi police has asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe the money trail (hawala transaction) in the IPL spot-fixing case in which Delhi police is likely to file a chargesheet soon, naming Dawood Ibrahim and Chotta Shakeel, along with the tainted players and arrested bookies.

A senior police official said that they have written a letter to the ED to trace the crime syndicates and money laundering during the IPL scandal for both spot-fixing and betting. The official added that the money laundering was done via a few bank accounts in India and Dubai.

This comes twenty days after, Millennium Post had published an article titled- ‘UN-CANNED! How D-Company made players dance to its tune’. Delhi police has confirmed the revelation made by Millennium Post in the article, based on information received from sources in the Special Cell of Delhi police.

On Sunday, after Delhi police received 10 days’ police custody of Ramesh Vyas, a bookie who was arrested by Mumbai police, said, a Delhi police official said, ‘Vyas is a top-brass bookie who has direct relations with the underworld. Interrogation has revealed that he used to act as a catalyst between the bookies and the underworld by transferring calls from India to Pakistan and Dubai.

' Vyas would use code language to make the conversation difficult to crack and would address those he would converse with as 'Master' and 'Doctor saheb’, the officer said. Cops are yet to establish whether these two titles referred to any player or his contacts in the underworld.

Millennium Post had earlier revealed that Vyas who hails from Gujarat and is often referred to as the father of spot-fixing and betting, would transfer the calls from Pakistan to junior bookies. A few of them, who have already been arrested, have been identified as Chandresh alias Jupiter, Jiju Janardhan and Tinku Mandi. 

Members from the underworld would instruct them on how to involve the players in spot fixing and what the players were required to do.<br><br>The tainted players, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, were indirectly in touch with Vyas. Chandila was in touch with Chand, a bookie who has been arrested by Delhi police and who was working on the instructions of Vyas, whereas, Mannan, another arrested bookie, was the link between Chavan and Vyas.

The official added, 'There is a possibility that players and bookies who are in judicial custody might be questioned gain after we collect more information from Vyas. We will seek their police custody under MCOCA.'

Sources in Special Cell told Millennium Post, 'Vyas played an active role in the hawala transactions. The bookies working under Vyas were not aware of either the hawala transaction or the that their calls were being transferred to Pakistan and Dubai. Only Tinku Mandi, a top-rung bookie in IPL-6 and who has also been arrested was aware of this.'