New Delhi, Jun 28 (IANS): Delhi Police have arrested a bookie involved in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scandal, an officer said Friday.
"Jitender Jain alias Jitu Tharad, 45, was arrested from Ahmedabad yesterday (Thursday)," Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), S.N. Srivastava told IANS.
Sources said that Delhi Police were looking for Jitu Tharad since three players of IPL team Rajasthan Royals - S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan - were arrested in Mumbai May 16.
The police claim to be in possession of telephonic transcripts proving Jitu Tharad was in constant touch with two other arrested bookies, identified as Chandresh Patel alias Chand, and Manan.
According to police, Tharad would fix deals ahead of every cricket match and sponsored travel and other activities of the other two bookies as they provided him access to the three cricketers.
Chand and Manan are alleged to have been supplying women to Sreesanth, for which the money, according to a Delhi Police source, was also being sent by Tharad.
Srivastava said that Tharad, a resident of Ahmedabad, was the main bookie who used to give money to Chand and Manan to persuade the three cricketers for spot fixing.
Tharad, who has an office in the Kabutar Khana area of Kalupur, Ahmedabad, was arrested on the basis of intelligence inputs, the official said.
A few years ago, Tharad incurred a huge loss in cricket betting. He was then helped by Ratanpol-based garment merchants to come out of his debt, sources said.
"As these merchants belonged to the Tharad town of Banaskantha district in Gujarat, Jitu became Jitu "Tharad" and turned into a big-time bookie," sources said.
Police claimed that this arrest may offer fresh leads into the murky scandal that rocked the sporting extravaganza.
Both Chand and Manan are out on bail, and police may now ask them to appear before it for a fresh round of questioning, the sources said.
"This is the 29th arrest in the spot fixing case by Delhi Police," Srivastava said.
Twenty-one accused in the case, including Sreesanth and Chavan, have been granted bail by the court.