Cricket betting worth crores: Pasricha

Maharashtra Director General of Police P S Pasricha on Thursday admitted that bets worth crores of rupees were being placed on cricket.

Pasricha said, "Crores of rupees of betting is going on. What do you do? It has been on since the days of the Mahabharata. Betting is in our blood. It is sad but true that betting is going on not only in cricket but also in various sectors."

Describing the background of the incident involving Marlon Samuels, the state police chief told rediff.com, "On January 20, Nagpur police received confidential but reliable information from an undisclosed source that West Indian players were in touch with some bookies. We kept electronics surveillance on them.  

"In his conversation with bookie Mukesh Kochar, we found Samuels talking about general things like the batting order and fielding arrangements. Nagpur Police Commssioner S P S Yadav then informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council. We are yet to find out the hidden code of their language, if any."

However, Pasricha clarified that such information did not amount to any offence but was certainly a breach of code of International Cricket Council laws.  

"I cannot say whether Samuel is part of the batting gang or not. We will try to find out soon. Betting is an offence and we do take it seriously even though there is no special cell to nab those who place bets on cricket in the state," he said.

Meanwhile, Mukesh Kochar on Thursay told a television channel that he was not a bookie and claimed he was a businessman.