What initially seemed like an accident, turned out to be the result of a conspiracy to eliminate Bhagat and take over his multi-crore matka operations. Police arrested Bhagat’s ex-wife, Jaya, and their son, Hitesh, for allegedly hatching the conspiracy. Bhagat had, in fact, informed the Crime Branch of threats to his life, said police officers.

“Suresh Bhagat married Jaya in 1978. However, the couple started having problems when Bhagat accused Jaya of ‘associating’ with several men, including Arun Gawli’s aide Suhas Roge. In 2001, Jaya filed for divorce. By that time, she already had a stake of 70 per cent in matka operations. She used to ‘pull the number’ on which bets were placed, a very important position in the matka business. Since then, Jaya and Roge had been trying to get rid of Suresh and had filed a number of false cases against him. However, when the duo realised that things were not moving fast, they decided to get rid of Bhagat forever. The seeds of conspiracy for the murder were sowed then,” says Maria.

Adds a senior police official, on condition of anonymity: “It was Ratan Khatri who started the matka business in Mumbai in 1968. An immigrant from Kutch, Kalyanji Bhagat also started his business from Worli in the early 70s, and it soon evolved into a multi-crore industry. It wasn’t long before the underworld started taking interest in matka gambling. The way in which Bhagat was eliminated was a very professionally executed hit-and-run case for which a supari of Rs 45 lakh was paid.”

... contd.