IPL 2023: After the arrest of notorious bookie Anil Jaisinghani, BCCI has come under the radar once again ahead of IPL 2023. It has been revealed now that the supreme governing body of cricket in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, had earlier issued a warning to cricketers advising them to exercise caution when dealing with the international bookie and hawala operator Anil Jaisinghani and his partner Deepak Naraini.
Cricketers were cautioned to avoid the bookies cartel in a confidential report that the BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) had submitted on Indian and foreign players who had been approached by a cricket betting syndicate led by Anil Jaisinghani to rig IPL matches in 2011–12.
Popular cricket betting books Rajdhani and Balaji were run by Anil Jaisinghani and his associate Deepak Nairani using compromised players who were coerced into dropping catches and conceding boundaries.
Anil Jaisinghani feared by all’
“Anil Jaisinghani was feared by all, including the police, for flashing his close connection with political heavyweights and having unfettered access to all cricket matches and players. He showered lavish gifts, including designer sunglasses, wristwatches and perfumes, to players.”
A BCCI ACU member described the influence held by the bookmaker who has been on the run for almost ten years. “All shopping in London’s Oxford Street was also sponsored by Anil Jaisinghani in lieu of a few pre-decided outcomes of IPL matches,” the member said.
Ahead of IPL 2023 Mumbai Police, CBI knew about Anil Jaisinghani
Anil Jaisinghani and his colleague Deepak Naraini were involved in the spot-fixing of IPL games by extorting specific players in order to profit from cricket betting, according to information provided by the BCCI to the Mumbai Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“It is easier to manage a particular player to throw a wide ball or no ball in a particular over or the batsman not to make runs with pre-decided signals like tightening shoelaces or placing a hand towel on the left side of the waist to indicate a particular action in the next delivery,” claimed a former crime branch official.
On Anil Jaisinghani’s involvement in match-fixing and the transfer of hawala funds for cricket betting to Dubai and Pakistan, Mumbai Police authorities kept quiet.
“We have arrested Anil Jaisinghani from Gujarat on the basis of an FIR lodged with the Malabar Hill Police Station on 20 February for blackmail and extortion. Further investigations are in progress,” said a senior police official.
Amruta Fadnavis bribe case: Accused Anil Jaisinghani held from Gujarat pic.twitter.com/OOOJ9YtMNU
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) March 20, 2023
Anil Jaisinghani has been arrested and reports by BCCI ACU suggest that he tried to fix matches in IPL 2011-12
Every IPL season, Anil Jaisinghani laundered around Rs 10,000 crore, which through hawala used to get transfer to Dubai and Pakistan. After operations on Mumbai-based bookie Sukhminder Sodhi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Ahmedabad Section came onto the hawala racket in cricket betting.
Famous bookmakers Tommy Patel, Kiran Mala, Dharmin Chauhan, Chirag Parikh, Ritesh Bansal, Ankush Bansal, Mukesh Sharma, Ashish Grover, and Paresh Bhatia were all detained as a result of the raids.
“Anil Jaisinghania was running the bookies cartel and diverting funds to Dubai and Pakistan. Several summons and arrest warrants were served at his Ulhasnagar residence, but he remained elusive,” alleged an ED official who was involved in the cricket betting probe.
