Cricket betting racketeer held, freed, then nabbed again

AHMEDABAD - Dinesh Kalgi, a top name in illegal cricket betting in Gujarat and India who was arrested late Thursday and bailed out Friday, was re-arrested under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA).

Kalgi was in the cross-hairs of Gujarat Police for his cricket betting exploits. He was also believed to be involved in spot-fixing and match-fixing of cricket matches involving Pakistan cricket team.

Kalgi figured in police records after the Ahmedabad police Crime Branch detected more than 200 calls from his mobile numbers to varied sources in Pakistan. His latest exploit was detected during a raid in Ahmedabad when a large-scale betting operation was unearthed during Sri Lanka and Australia cricket match.

Though many of his associates were nabbed, Kalgi gave police a slip. As the police heightened the search for him, he knocked the doors of the sessions court and the Gujarat High Court for permission to surrender but this was turned down.

Acting on prior information, the police lay in wait for him early Friday and nabbed him. Kalgi was presented before the metropolitan court in the evening with a demand for 14 days’ remand but the court rejected the remand and ordered his release on bail.

Soon after his release, he was picked up under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) and immediately sent to the Jamnagar jail.