Firoz Ansari (36), close aide of underworld don Chhota Shakeel and a key conduit of the cricket betting racket, was arrested by the Delhi Police's Special Cell from Mumbai on Tuesday and brought to the Capital late on Tuesday night. He was produced before a city court on Wednesday, which sent him to five days of police custody.
A senior police officer said that Ansari was arrested from a petrol pump in Kamathipura area of Mumbai where he had to meet his son on Tuesday.
"Ansari knew all the details of the functioning of an international betting as well as match-fixing racket active in India. He was absconding after the IPl spot-fixing case was busted on May16, with the arrest of 14 people — including three IPl players from Mumbai. He had also gone to Kashmir and kept changing hide-outs to escape arrest," the officer added.
Police sources said that Ansari was the driver of bookie Zahid Ghulam Hassan Mir alias Chhote Miyan, who had lost crores in betting on the 2008 IPl. Ansari along with his associates were placing bets on a UK website, www.betfair.com, which the police had asked authorities to block earlier.
Ansari was put under electronic surveillance since April and investigators had intercepted his several telephonic conversations with underworld dons based in Dubai and Pakistan. However, after May 16, his regular phone was not active, but police teams were sent to different places — including Kashmir to nab him.
"Ramesh Vyas, who is a rival of Ansari, is already in our custody and they both used to carry forward the instructions and betting rates from Dubai and Pakistan. They opened rates in India and also managed post-betting accounts and conflicts between the bookies or punters," the sources added.