A cricket test match between India and England is now the subject of an investigation by the Kolkata police after alleged anomalous play by Indian players led to a humiliating ten-wicket loss at the hands of their English counterparts.
According to the Times of India, a large betting racket may have been the reason behind India’s loss to England. Investigators in on the case have already confirmed that gambling played a part in the result of the test match. “The result of the match was a surprise because Indian players practically surrendered before the English spin attack, which is quite bizarre,” one of the senior investigators told the Times.
DC south suburban division Sujay Chanda also confirmed to the publication the arrest of eight persons with the individuals being probed as to whether they were involved in betting on the match. Meanwhile, the Gharfa police has been hands-on in the case after being tipped off regarding an illegal gambling ring operating in the area over the past few minutes. The authorities have had a few misses following in on leads, including a raid during the Diwali festival that unfortunately led to some of the gamblers escaping. But earlier this week, the authorities managed to nab eight people at a famous restaurant chain, in addition to confiscating RS 90,000 and loads of gold ornaments.
Authorities have also identified Samir Adhikari, 35, as the proverbial head of the snake who, together with older brother Bishu, ran the operation out of the restaurant of which he owned. The eight individuals arrested during the latest raid have admitted to being involved in card gambling, but denied any such participation in cricket betting, including the manipulation of the aforementioned India-England test match.
But the Kolkata police have reasons to believe that cricket betting was also in their operations and are set to launch a thorough investigation on whether the suspects had their hands on cricket betting too. Several mobile phones were confiscated in the raid and the police, according to an investigator, are working diligently to check all the call details from the phones to see if there’s any evidence of cricket betting from any of the arrested individuals.
