Bookies and punters suffered losses of around `1,500 crores following the police action against betting in IPL-6, said a Mumbai police official who sought anonymity.
The arrested Indian bookies are now unable to pay off bookies and punters from Pakistan and Dubai, with alleged underworld links, who betted on IPL matches.
The Indian bookies and punters lost big money to their Pakistani and Dubai counterparts, who were operating on the underworld’s instructions, the police claimed. The punters, who lost money to arrested Indian bookies, say they won’t pay as they wanted to recover losses by placing more bets, but the police raids stalled their plans.
A Mumbai police official said Thursday: “Because we (Mumbai and Delhi police) cracked the two big modules, punters and other bookies associated with these modules suffered huge losses.”
Under unwritten betting rules, the final settlement always takes place after a tournament ends. “After we arrested the bookies, the punters and other bookies couldn’t get the money they made on the IPL,” the police official said.
The Mumbai police Thursday issued summons to Delhi-based former bookie Anand Saxena, now into the real estate business. He is the person who introduced Vindoo Dara Singh to bookies. “We asked him to report to the Mumbai police within a week,” a source said.