Cleaner Carries Out Bookies’ Operation During 1 Match In Delhi, Says BCCI ACU Chief

BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit chief Shabbir Hussain Shekhadam Khandwawala has revealed that a bunch of potential corruptors planted an accredited cleaner at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla ground for doing "pitch-siding" which helps in ball-to-ball betting. Pitch-siding is the practice of transmitting information from sporting events for the purpose of gambling or directly placing bets. The operation was observed between the time lag of the actual match and live telecast."One of my ACU officers caught a person and handed over the details to Delhi Police. While that particular offender managed to flee leaving behind his two mobile phones, ACU lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police," Hussain, a former DG of Gujarat Police, told PTI.

Two people with fake accreditation cards were arrested during the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 2 by the Delhi Police.

The ACU supremo mentioned that they have lodged a complaint with all the details of the cleaner, however, he is just a small fish in this big betting scene.

But he did agree that lower-rung staff might be used by a bigger syndicate since, because of COVID-19, there is no access to hotels given the bio-secure measures.

The ACU got him under their radar when he was spotted using his phone in a secluded area. The guy fled the scene immediately when the ACU officers approached him and asked him to hand over his phone for inspection. The ACU unit recognized the IPL accreditation card which all the class IV staff are given during the tournament from bus drivers, to cleaners, porters etc. The Delhi Police immediately took action and arrested two people in suspicion of being the big bookmakers from the cleaner’s phone log.

Hussain said that the Sunrisers Hyderabad team was staying at a hotel in the presence of three people with questionable past records and whose names were there in the ACU database. However, they couldn't come in contact with the players. "The moment we had information, we got in touch with Mumbai Police. The Police Commissioner of Mumbai took immediate cognisance and the Mumbai Police got hold of those three," he added.

Source: NDTV