Once again strengthening the speculations revolving around match- fixing in Indian Premier League (IPL), three bookies were arrested with Rs. 40 lakh from Landmark Hotel in Kanpur, a day after the IPL match between Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils in the city.
Kanpur Senior Supreintendent of Police (SSP) A Kulheri said, "We have got some names but they not confirmed. We will question players whose names we have got."
The raid was made collectively by the crime branch and police on the tip-off received by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vigilance.
Three bookies namely, Nayan Shah, Vikas Chauhan and Ramesh Kumar were caught along with cash worth Rs. 4,40,000, two mobiles and a diary at the same hotel that the players were put up in.
Ramesh, who works as a labourer in the Green Park Stadium, used to give pitch-related information to the bookies.
As per the police, Ramesh had network all over the country, from where he gets information about the pitch. He used to do betting based on that information.
Based on the inputs about the pitch, Shah and Vikas used to take the bets, police said, adding close-shot pictures of the pitch were found from the mobile phone seized from Kumar.
The trio is being interrogated for other details, the SP said, adding the police were also trying to find out how they got rooms in the hotel where the cricketers were staying.
Police were also questioning the staffers of the Landmark Hotel in this regard.
The Green Park Stadium in Kanpur is also scheduled to host the final round-robin game of the season between defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Lions on May 13.
Betting controversies have blighted the lucrative Twenty20 league in recent years with former Indian paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth handed a life ban by the BCCI for involvement in a spot-fixing scandal in the 2013 season.
The Chennai and Rajasthan franchises were also subsequently suspended from the IPL for two years after key officials from both teams were found guilty of illegal betting.