Arbaaz Khan summoned by Thane Police in connection with IPL betting case

Mumbai: Actor-Producer Arbaaz Khan was issued summons by Thane Police on Friday in connection with an Indian Premier League betting case currently being probed.

Arbaaz has been asked to present himself on Saturday after Thane Crime Branch arrested and interrogated a bookie called Sonu Jalan who reportedly took the Bollywood celebrity's name. Sources have revealed that Arbaaz and Jalan were close friends and may have been in close contact till three years back. Sources have also said that it is being suspected that Jalan had a video of Arbaaz with which he had been blackmailing him. Details of what is in the video is not known. Jalan has also reportedly said that Arbaaz owed him Rs 3 crore.

Arbaaz may now be questioned for any possible links to betting in cricket - specifically in IPL.

It has been learnt that Jalan's arrest has come as a major achievement for the cops because he reportedly has been working with D-Company and may have been involved with fixing of several international matches including a Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia in 2016. It is suspected that Jalan and his associates had travelled to Sri Lanka where they had met a pitch curator with the objective of getting a Test match fixed.

Jalan reportedly owns three flats in Mumbai and has a steady rental income from them. He has a long list of luxury vehicles. Sources say a diary recovered from one of Jalan's properties have revealed that he earned Rs 500 crore from betting collections during the 2018 season of IPL. Of this, Rs 10 crore was earned from just the final between Chennai and Hyderabad. It is alleged that Jalan routed money earned from the betting market from Mumbai to Dubai and from Dubai to Karachi through hawala channels.

Jalan also reportedly has close connections with two associates of terrorist Dawood Ibrahim who are based out of Pakistan. According to well-placed sources, he has also been in constant touch with two key associates of Dawood in Dubai - Raees Siddiqui and Anil Kothari alias Anil Tunda.