ED arrests bookie in Delhi, cracks whip on betting syndicates

New Delhi/Mumbai, May 22

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a suspected Delhi-based bookie on Friday after conducting searches in several cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur, as part of its probe into hawala transactions and money laundering in connection with the ongoing IPL tournament.

Sources said suspected operative Mukesh Sharma was arrested by the agency under relevant sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) from the national capital on allegations of operating a UK-based betting website and subsequently placing bets on IPL matches.

 "Sharma will be produced in a court on Saturday to obtain a transit remand for him to be taken to Ahmedabad," the source said, adding the said website had 50 lakh illegal users in India.    

The ED raided some eight premises in these cities, including Thane (Maharashtra) and Gurgaon. The Ahmedabad ED is the leading the investigations

"The searches are aimed at investigating some top links active in betting in matches in the Indian Premier League cricket tournament. This is an extension of similar raids that were conducted by the agency on May 10," the sources said.

Some cash, jewellery and computer hardware have been seized from all the locations.

Investigators also raided houses of suspected bookies in Jaipur and Thane after they found the Hawala route being used to conduct their betting transactions. The ED is now considering enlisting CERT-In to clamp down on betting operations.

The ED had conducted similar searches in the national capital and adjoining areas earlier this month and nabbed two people. — PTI