8 held for accepting bets on Ashes Test

Sandesh Prabhudesai

The Goa police on Friday arrested eight bookies from Kolhapur, who were receiving bets on the ongoing England-Australia Ashes Test series at a hotel in Panaji in north Goa, and seized 19 mobile phones and two cars from them.

It is believed that the arrested persons disclosed the names "their four bosses", who they said hail from Bombay. The police, however, suspect that the betting racket is on the national level and its kingpin may be elsewhere.

The Panaji police said it moved into action following a tip-off from their Kolhapur counterparts on Thursday evening that some bookies had shifted base to Goa. They said seven of those arrested are Kolhapur-based Sindhi businessmen while the other is from the neighbouring Miraj area.

Since Friday morning, around Rs 2.5 million worth bets were allegedly received for the second day's play of the fourth Ashes Test.

The police also seized a writing pad with names of those who had placed bets as well as a detailed list of the 86 international cricket matches to be played till December this year, at Leeds, The Oval, Kandy, Colombo, Harare, Bulawayo, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban, etc.

North Goa Superintendent of Police P David said further investigations are on.