Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai (CDS)

Mumbai, Jun 24: Two bookies were arrested for allegedly accepting bets on the World Cup match between New Zealand and West Indies from a hotel in Grant Road by the Mumbai Anti-Narcotic Cell crime branch who raided their racket.

According to a register that was seized by the police during the raid, the bookies accepted bets everyday of Rs 1 crore, which made it a total of Rs 14 crore. The police have claimed that the accused were operating for almost 20 days from a hotel room.

A police officer from ANC said, “The accused were placing bets since June 12 and had collected approximately Rs 14 crore since then.”

The two men arrested are 51–year old, Vishwas Kishan Takalkar, who is a resident of the city and Ajay Kantraj, a 24-year-old resident of Bengaluru.

After receiving information about the racket from a senior police inspector, Shivdeep Lande, deputy commissioner of police, ANC, along with his entire team raided a hotel room in Khetwadi.

Lande said, “During the raid, we found the two accused accepting bets on the phone during the live match. We seized eight mobiles phones worth Rs 1.93 lac, an LCD screen worth Rs 25,000 and Rs 9,470 from the room.”

The police are currently looking for the head of the racket. A police officer said, “The duo was linked to a man who fixed the betting rates for players and teams through the phone. We are now trying to trace him.”