Mumbai police had learnt as early as May 2005 that Mukesh Kochar — whose phone conversation with West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels was taped by Nagpur police last week — was linked to cricket betting rings. His involvement had come to light during the investigation of Mumbai-based bookie Shobhan Mehta, who was caught after an illegal telephone exchange used for taking bets was busted.

Apparently Mehta was not on good terms with gangster Dawood Ibrahim, who controls much of the betting operations in Mumbai, so he spilled the beans on Kochar, whose job it was to issue bets on behalf of Ibrahim and his key aides through their own network of bookies. Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel had fielded their own men in the Mumbai cricket betting scene after Mehta’s dealings had caused them major losses.

Sources said Mumbai police had then left the Kochar matter at that, for they could not link him to the busting of Mehta’s network and telephone exchange.

However, they did record their findings against Kochar in the Mehta case diary.

It has also been learnt from sources that at least two Dubai-based cellphone numbers of Kochar have been under surveillance of security agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau. The one intercepted by Nagpur police, sources said, belonged to a close Dawood aide, though Kochar could have been using it.

A senior officer who was part of the 2005 investigation said, “Shobhan Mehta was not on terms with Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. And so it was obvious when we investigated Mehta, we learnt a lot about bookies working for the Dawood camp.” He said police had learnt that Kochar’s operations in cricket betting had intensified over some seven years and that he had developed very good contacts with Indian, West Indian, Australian, and Pakistani cricketers. Also that at least seven big bookies were in regular touch with him. Sources said that although Kochar and Mehta never dealt together, they knew of each other’s operations in the way rivals do. Even their modus operandi happened to be similar, building contacts with players at parties and social gatherings.

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