The Bengaluru police on Wednesday announced that it had arrested a bookie for trying to fix matches of the Karnataka Premier League. Police said an FIR was registered against Bhavesh Bafna and Sanyam, two bookies, for allegedly approaching a bowler from KPL team Bellary Tuskers to fix a match.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil said, the duo had approached “a Bellary Tuskers bowler to give more than ten runs per over, but the bowler had refused”. He added that while Bafna was arrested the police was on the lookout for his accomplice. “Sanyam is allegedly from Delhi and he will be arrested soon,” Patil added.
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The arrest comes days after police picked up the team owner of KPL team Belagavi Ali Ashfak Thara for his role in a betting ring, allegedly linked to persons in Dubai.
The Central Crime Branch had turned up the heat on the KPL in the wake of reports, including last year, of suspicious activity during the annual event. Last year, betting firms had gotten suspicious over a KPL match between Bijapur Bulls and Hubli Tigers.
Patil said these cases were not related, although they were part of a larger investigation the police was undertaking into the KPL. “At present there does not seem to be any link between Thara and the bookies,” he said. Patil said no further information about the case could be revealed at the moment.
{{/usCountry}}Patil said these cases were not related, although they were part of a larger investigation the police was undertaking into the KPL. “At present there does not seem to be any link between Thara and the bookies,” he said. Patil said no further information about the case could be revealed at the moment.
{{/usCountry}}He also denied that there was any link between this case and another one filed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which had alleged that a woman cricketer had been approached by bookies during a match between India and England earlier this year. The player had reported this and the BCCI filed a complaint earlier this month.
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A senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the police had not made much headway in the woman cricketer’s case. “We have not even been given the address of the cricketer. If we are to proceed with the case, we will also have to interview the person so we can establish the facts,” the official said. “So far, the information we have received is from an internal investigation of the BCCI. We cannot proceed with that.”