The Kalbadevi crackdown by Mumbai Police on Tuesday night almost killed Delhi Police's operation to identify and nab players involved in spot fixing.
Mumbai Police arrested Ramesh Vyas (52) a resident of Mumbai's posh Napean Sea Road, for arranging conference calls between overseas players and Indian bookies.
Ramesh Vyas, a big-time bookie and a member of Dawood Ibrahim's betting and fixing syndicate was on the radar of the Delhi Police and was part of the racket that was busted by the Special Cell.
When Vyas was arrested by Mumbai Police, 30 lines were found to be active and 30 people were heard conversing with 30 Indian bookies.
The crackdown hit the Delhi Police operation, as immediately after the Kalbadevi raid, bookies started transmitting the message, "Rates have come down to Rs one", indicating that all was not well and all bookings must stop immediately. Following this, all bookies across the country went quiet and all modes of communications were snapped.
This sudden development made the task of Delhi Police difficult and the team could not net more players from other teams who were suspected to be involved in spot fixing.
However, despite this setback and the tragic death of Inspector Badrish Dutt, who was its first Investigating Officer (IO), Delhi Police took the challenge of unmasking the faces behind this sordid episode, head on.
Bookies that were found to be in constant touch with their Pakistani counterparts have been identified as lokesh, Bharat, Jupiter, Tinku from Delhi and Sanjay, Noka, Kaku and Kothari from Jaipur.
Sources in Delhi Police said that the parallel investigation launched by Mumbai Police was meant to offset its ongoing probe into spot fixing. Investigators said that Vyas is Dawood Ibrahim's henchman and controls a major part of this illegal activity.
Interestingly, Mumbai Police had arrested Ramesh Vyas two days before the Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians match.
Cops were astounded to find a host of mobile and landlines installed in Vyas' house. He was operating with a mind-boggling 92 cell phones and 30 landlines with call forwarding facilities. The calls were being routed to Pakistan via Dubai. This was done with the purpose of masking the identities of D-Company operatives.
Investigations have led police to another bookie identified as Sunil Abhichandani alias Sunil Dubai, who is also Dawood Ibrahim's trusted lieutenant and operates from Dubai.
Sunil Dubai's name had figured prominently in the spot fixing scandal involving three Rajasthan Royals players.
Mumbai Police had issued a look Out Circular against Sunil Dubai in 2012 after his name surfaced during investigations.
However, there are allegations that certain top Mumbai police officers have been shielding Sunil Dubai and their intervention had ensured that the Mumbai Police Crime Branch did not renew the Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol for his arrest.
This in a way helped Sunil Dubai's family as now he can return to Mumbai anytime without fearing immediate arrest on arrival.