Reproduced with special permission from Star of Mysore

Bangalore, Mar 27: Match-fixing has taken place in the current World Cup cricket matches. Crores of rupees have gone to the pockets of leading cricket players of India through match- fixing. This startling disclosure has been made by the city cops.

A bookie has told the Police that even players of Ireland and Pakistan teams have netted crores of rupees. Share would have gone to the respective selectors and coaches too. Pak coach Bob Woolmer is believed to have opposed this and that is the reason for his murder, revealed city South-Zone DCP Alok Kumar to media persons here yesterday.

The bookie, who is under custody, has reportedly said the run rate per over too was fixed for the Indian batsmen, added Kumar. Ireland-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh matches were fixed well in advance. The Indian players cannot be caught in match-fixing at any stage for there are no evidences at all to take any action. If the matches were played in India there was some scope to take action, said Kumar.

Cash recovered

When the bookies, caught while betting, were being interrogated by the Police, a boy who brought Rs. 1.4 lakh to handover to one Vasudev in Police custody fell into the cops' trap. The said amount was reportedly sent by a bookie Praveen to be handed over to Vasudev, said Kumar.

Bettings at Resorts

The cricket betting mafia has been shifted to Resorts on the outskirts of the city and the Police are on the prowl there. Three bookies were taken to Police custody on Sunday and vital informations were collected from them. It is learnt, the bookies were not only merry-making at the resorts but making crores of rupees through bettings.

Vasudev and his friend Benaka were reportedly contacting the bookies in Mumbai from the resorts. They used to collect money from customers in Kempegowda-nagar, Hanumanthanagar, K.G. Nagar and Chamarajapet. The bookies collect money from bettors predicting either a win or a loss in a game.

The money thus collected is invested on another person betting on runs and wickets. All tran-sactions are done through laptops and cellphones, sources said.

It may be recalled, during the triangular series involving India and Sri Lanka recently, the city cops had booked few bookies. Vexed by the frequent raids, the bookies had shifted their operation to resorts, far away from the city.

As the information came that the bettings were going on in the resorts, a team of Police personnel led by Alok Kumar have continued the search operation at the resorts on the outskirts of the city.