The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday conducted searches in and around Delhi in connection with its hawala probe against some betting syndicates related allegedly to IPL T-20 cricket matches.
Sources said that about four locations in Delhi and neighbouring Gurgaon were covered during the searches which are being conducted by the Ahmedabad office of the agency in coordination with their local counterparts.
“The searches are being conducted on some suspects who acted as bookies during the recent Indian Premier League matches held in the county. The probe is being handled by the ED Ahmedabad office, which is investigating the case for hawala and money laundering charges,” sources said.
The Ahmedabad office of ED had on March 19 claimed to have busted a racket and arrested some bookies from a farmhouse on the outskirts of Vadodara in Gujarat.
Later, the agency arrested 13 others in connection with the alleged betting racket.
On March 26, the same office registered a money laundering case against two prime suspects and a few others in an alleged IPL betting racket worth Rs. 4,000 crore.
The accused have been charged by ED under Sections 418 (cheating), 419 (punishment for cheating), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 471 (using forged document as genuine) along with Section 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code.
Sources said that a “good cache” of mobile phones, documents and computer peripherals have been seized during today’s operation.
Locations in Delhi’s Karol Bagh, Shastri Nagar and Gurgaon are being searched, they added.
