This story is from July 7, 2020

Mohali: Fake T20 match fixer arrested

The Punjab police on Monday announced the arrest of bookie and fixer Ravinder Singh Dandiwal, wanted by the anti-corruption unit of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and International Cricket Council (ICC) for organizing a fake Sri Lanka T20 match on June 29 at Kharar in Punjab’s Mohali district. Dandiwal is also allegedly involved in a major international tennis match fixing scam.
Mohali: Fake T20 match fixer arrested
Mohali SSP shows the fixer’s photo at a press meet
By: Piyush Sarna
MOHALI: The Punjab police on Monday announced the arrest of bookie and fixer Ravinder Singh Dandiwal, wanted by the anti-corruption unit of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and International Cricket Council (ICC) for organizing a fake Sri Lanka T20 match on June 29 at Kharar in Punjab’s Mohali district. Dandiwal is also allegedly involved in a major international tennis match fixing scam.
Mohali senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal said Dandiwal, who belongs to Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, was arrested after a tip-off on Sunday from Mohali, where he lives.
He was produced in a local court on Monday and sent to police remand for five days. A case under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13A-3-67 of the Gambling Act was registered against him at the Sadar Kharar police station.
The BCCI team will reach Mohali on Tuesday to help the police investigation, said the SSP.
Dandiwal had formed four teams and held a fraudulent cricket series named UVA T20 Premier League. This so-called league was held in Swara village of Kharar but was shown as being held in Sri Lanka. The aim was to earn huge amounts of money through betting, the police said.
Local bookies, Pankaj and Goldy, had helped rent cricket ground of Swara village from June 29 till July 5 for Rs 33,000. “The game was managed by him and was streamed on television channels, Fancode APP, YouTube and betting was done on various apps as well as sites such as Diamond, Sky, Lotus, Tenbet, Spin, Punjab Exchange. How much money was involved in the betting is a part of the investigation,” said SSP Chahal.

Dandiwal had registered a club by the name ‘Cricket Council of India’ in 2009 and since then had organised fraudulent tournaments in Mohali, Amritsar and Bhopal. “This is not the first time we received information about him. He was in the limelight earlier too,” said Chahal.
Giving details about the fake match, SSP Chahal said a Delhi resident, Durgesh and his team was invited to Kharar with professional cameras to cover the match so that it would seem that it was being held in Sri Lanka. “The miscreants even installed an internet tower and Dandiwal had ordered jerseys of various colours and clubs online from Jalandhar,” the SSP added.
“The number of the accused is likely to increase in the course of investigation. Two laptops and his passport have been seized. The players who were made to play the matches were paid by him,” said Chahal.
In the preliminary investigation, two miscreants, Pankaj Kumar and Raju Kalia, both residents of Peer Muchhala, were arrested and the role of Dandiwal came to light after that. Apart from Dandiwal, the other accused in the case are Pankaj, Goldy, Varun Kumar, Suveen, Raju Kalia, Jatinder Kumar, Sahil Khurana and Jolly. At present, Dandiwal, Pankaj and Raju Kalia are in police custody. The cops had seized two laptops and five mobile phones from Raju Kalia and two mobile phones from Pankaj after their arrest.
“While investigating Dandiwal, names of several other bookies such as Rahul, Sandeep Jain and Kullu Jain have come to light,” said Kharar DSP Pall Singh.
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