A local court today granted bail to an alleged bookie, who was arrested along with cash and gold worth Rs 1.54 crore and charged with accepting bets on IPL matches.
Vinod Mulchandani, who was nabbed yesterday, was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate K S Trivedi by the crime branch, which sought his custody for five days.
His lawyer, Chetan Raval argued that police had registered a case against Mulchandani for 'cheating by impersonation' (section 419 of Indian Penal Code) which is a bailable offence.
Police contended that as Mulchandani was using someone else's SIM card to accept bets, they had to find out in whose name the SIM was issued, and who else were involved.
But after the court rejected the remand application, Mulchandani moved bail plea, which was granted.
Yesterday, Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) arrested Mulchandani, a resident of Satellite area, and seized Rs 1.28 crore cash, gold biscuits worth Rs 26 lakh and 12 cellphones from his possession.
The arrest followed Gujarat government's advisory to district police chiefs to crack down on bookies.
After his arrest, the police had first registered a case under Gambling Act and sought his custody for interrogation. But as the court turned down the remand application, Mulchandani was re-arrested for cheating and produced before the court again today.