IPL betting racket: Bollywood producer Parag Sanghvi records statement with Thane cops

Police sources said Sanghvi was arrested bookie Sonu Jalan’s partner and had himself also placed bets on various matches.

Bollywood producer Parag Sanghvi recorded his statement at the Thane Anti Extortion Cell (AEC) in connection with the IPL betting racket on Wednesday.

Bollywood producer Parag Sanghvi. (HT File Photo)

Police sources had said that Sanghvi was arrested bookie Sonu Jalan’s partner and had himself placed bets on various matches. The police had summoned Sanghvi on Monday.

Meanwhile, Jalan will be produced in court on Wednesday.

Sanghvi’s recent home productions include the movies ‘Bhoot Returns’, ‘Partner’ and ‘The Attacks of 26/11’.

“Sanghvi’s statement is being recorded and we are verifying his statement with Jalan’s,” confirmed Pradeep Sharma, senior police inspector, Thane AEC.

Sharma said they are also examining videos from Jalan’s mobile phone shot by a friend. In the video, Jalan is shown talking on the phone with a bookie and saying that instead of six trucks full of dirhams, he would give eight trucks, buy Burj Khalifa, and name it Burj Sonufa. “Then, he says he will send 60 trucks filled with money that can be distributed across Kuwait. Basically, Jalan is using code language, which we are trying to decode. We are also verifying details seen and heard in the video,” he added.

Speaking of other Bollywood celebrities involved in betting, Sharma said: “We found that Sajid Khan had also placed bets in the past, but we have not found any links to the current case.”

On May 18, the Thane AEC arrested three cricket bookies from Dombivli — Gautam Savla,43, who runs a grocery shop, and Nikhil Sampat,53, who works in a private firm, both residents of Dombivli, and Nitish Punjani,28, a Thane resident who is otherwise unemployed. Following interrogation, the police arrested three more bookies, include Jalan, one of India’s top bookies, from Malad.

So far, six bookies have been arrested in the IPL betting racket, and the statement of Bollywood actor Arbaaz Khan, brother of superstar Salman Khan, has been recorded; he confessed to laying bets on IPL matches and losing ₹2.8 crore.