Mumbai, September 16
A Mumbai cricket bookie has begun to sing about cricket betting and links between bar girls and Bollywood personalities in the trade. Police officials said here that a bookie Milind Nandu, alias DJ, has begun to tell all after being taken into custody.
As a consequence of DJ’s confession, the Mumbai Police arrested a former bar dancer Tarannum Khan in the early hours today. She was already under probe for her role in the trade.
According to the police, Tarannum, who worked in an upscale Mumbai bar before such joints were shut down last month, knew cricket players, including Sri Lankan spinner Mutthiah Murlitharan, and was also connected with big-time punters in addition to bookies.
The police are now trying to establish links between all players to make out a case proving fixing of matches around the world.
Sources said the first tip-off on the match-fixing racket was provided by the anti-corruption wing of the International Cricket Council, which was reportedly probing DJ’s links with well-known cricket players.
The police came into the picture to probe Tarranum’s links after her phone numbers were found with DJ. The Income Tax blew the lid on the scandal when it raided her plush bungalow in Mumbai and discovered undisclosed assets.
While DJ and his associate Pradeep Parmar were arrested late last night, Tarannum was arrested a little before six this morning.
All of them have been arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Gambling Act, IT Act and the IPC.
So far, investigators have managed to uncover the roles of filmmaker turned bookie Jagdish Sodha and disgraced Kenyan captain Maurice Odumbe who was banned from the sport last year.
