Bollywood actor and film-maker Arbaaz Khan on Saturday confessed to involvement in betting during the Indian Premier League (IPL), reported ANI. During interrogation, Arbaaz accepted that he had placed bets in IPL matches last year and had lost Rs 2.75 crore.
Arbaaz was summoned to record his statement before the anti-extortion cell of Thane police. He was made to sit face-to-face with bookie Sonu Jalan who had earlier been arrested and spilled the beans on the betting racket.
Reacting to the scandal, IPL chief Rajeev Shukla said: "The matter is with the police, we have nothing to do with it. Both BCCI & ICC have anti-corruption units, police can coordinate with them."
The city police on Friday issued summons to the 50-year-old actor-producer for recording his statement in connection with the betting racket. In a letter sent to Arbaaz, the police asked him to join the probe in the wake of arrest of an alleged bookie who was placing bets on the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL), a police official had said.
Arbaaz has reached the office of the Thane Police's Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) for recording his statement, said DCP (Crime) Abhishek Trimukhe. The AEC busted the racket on May 15 with the arrest of four people in Mumbai, including Sonu Jalan alias Sonu Malad, who is believed to be one of the top bookies of the country, officials have said.
During the investigation, a 'connection' between Jalan and Arbaaz was established, said Pradeep Sharma, Senior Inspector and head of the AEC, on Friday. "We suspect that Arbaaz Khan had placed bets on IPL matches and want to scrutinise his bank transactions," said another police official.
Arbaaz allegedly lost Rs 2.75 crore in betting to Jalan and was not paying the amount, following which the bookie had threatened the actor, the official had said, citing the interrogation of the arrested accused.
Source: DNA