Underworld and Dubai Bookies Behind Massive Betting Scheme for Champions Trophy Final
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Sources have revealed that bets worth up to Rs 5,000 crore have been placed on the final match of the Champions Trophy, which will take place in Dubai on Sunday. India is reportedly the favorite team among international bookies, many of whom are connected to the underworld, including the notorious D Company led by Dawood Ibrahim.
According to sources monitoring betting rings, big bookies from across the globe converge in Dubai for major cricket matches. During the ongoing Champions Trophy, Delhi Police's Crime Branch arrested at least five prominent bookies who were placing bets on the semi-finals. Their arrests have led to a deeper investigation, which has since extended to Dubai.
Arrest of Major Bookies
In one case, two bookies, Parveen Kochhar and Sanjay Kumar, were caught red-handed while placing live bets on the India-Australia semi-final match. They were using laptops and mobile phones to place the bets. The police seized several electronic devices and other items used for betting.
Kochhar was found to have purchased a master ID from a betting website called lucky.com, which he used to create betting IDs that he then sold to punters. The syndicate charged a 3 percent commission on each transaction. For offline betting, the accused used phone calls and notepads to keep track of bets, with Kochhar renting a house for Rs 35,000 per month to operate the betting business over the last two years. He reportedly made Rs 40,000 on every match day.
Kochhar’s interrogation revealed that the entire network was being controlled from Dubai.
Notable Bookies and Their Operations
The investigation also identified several key figures involved in the betting syndicate, including:
Chhotu Bansal: A resident of West Delhi who developed a betting app in Canada. He now resides in Dubai and rents out his app to other bookies for betting.
Vinay: A Moti Nagar resident from Delhi, who is currently in Dubai. He provided live match feedback directly from the cricket ground.
Other Delhi-based bookies, including Bobby, Golu, Nitin Jain, and Jitu, are also linked to the syndicate.
Among the five arrested bookies, three — Manish Sahani, Yogesh Kukeja, and Suraj — are tied to Dubai. The police recovered Rs 22 lakh in cash from their possession. Sahani, identified as the main operator of the syndicate, managed the betting operations, recording the voices of bettors and handling transactions through bank accounts or cash. He stated that he controlled the entire operation without using any middlemen.
During their questioning, the accused revealed that the ‘Satta’ betting app was developed by Mannu Matka, Akshay Gehlot, Nishu, Rinku, and Aman Rajput outside of India.
