New Delhi: Rajesh Kalra, who owned a major portion of the looted cash in Lajpat Nagar heist, was in constant touch with hawala dealers in Dubai and cricket bookies in Mumbai and London, investigators today claimed and are now trying to trace the money trail.
Kalra was chargesheeted by Delhi Police`s crime branch for his alleged involvement in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing case and police said while trying to track the robbers, they were also probing possible betting racket related to the ongoing India-New Zealand cricket series.
Delhi Police was likely to contact their Mumbai counterparts to trace possible hawala trail of over Rs 8 crore which was looted on Tuesday, investigators said.
Kalra`s call record details have revealed that he was constantly in touch with cricket bookies and hawala dealers in Dubai. Just a day before the robbery, Kalra had spoken to a person on a Dubai number for more than 20 minutes, they said.
It has also been found that the businessman had close ties with actor Vindoo Dara Singh, who is facing charges in the IPL spot-fixing case.
Kalra`s phone records further suggested that he was in constant touch with bookies in Jaipur, Mumbai and London, police said. They said the money looted had possibly come through hawala trail to Delhi.
Police believe that whether it is a cricket betting racket, a hawala or money laundering syndicate or all rolled into one, the money must have been channelised through Mumbai while the strings were controlled from Dubai.
Meanwhile, senior officials of the South-East district police today questioned several people, including employees of Kalra, his manager and businessman Rakesh Kumar at Special Staff Office at Madangir.
One Subodh, who was driving the Honda City car which was stolen along with the cash during the robbery has come under police scanner after it has emerged that the car, which used to transport cash almost on a routine basis, took a different route that day.
Investigators said as Subodh took a different route, an I-20 car, which was escorting him with a gunman, was stuck somewhere else.
"We also questioned Kalra`s business partner Rahul Ahuja, but there is still no breakthrough in the case," said a senior police officer.
Police suspect that among Kalra`s contacts were Chandresh Jain alias Jupiter, a Jaipur-based bookie and jeweller who was arrested over the IPL spot-fixing scandal, and London-based bookie Sanjeev Chawla, whose name had cropped up as the main fixer in the 2000 Hansie Cronje match fixing case.
Police said there has been question mark over the actual amount of money robbed on Tuesday as there is a possibility that the amount could be much more than the stated figure of Rs 8 crore. They said the looted cash may contain some foreign currency also.
According to the FIR registered at Lajpat Nagar police station, Rs 4.69 crore belonged to Kalra while the remaining amount of three crore and one lakh belonged to Rakesh Kumar Sharma, who is a Jaipur based businessman.
Police said they were now checking the bank accounts in which the cash was supposed to be deposited.
The case may be referred to Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department once the gang behind the robbery is caught with police saying that the victims are yet to provide a satisfactory explanation about the source of the money.
Meanwhile, CCTV footage on the roads leading to the crime scene revealed that the Honda City car, which was robbed by around half-a-dozen armed assailants, was being followed by the Hyundai Verna and Wagon R car.
At least three of the assailants were visible in the CCTV cameras installed close to the spot but they could not be identified.
Based on the description provided by the victims and police informers, four sketches of suspects have been circulated amongst sleuths and police forces of the neighbouring states.
Police said that their main focus is to arrest the people behind the robbery as they believe that would go a long way towards answering the questions like the actual amount looted and the entire plot behind it.
Police teams continued to raid possible hideouts in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh in search of the suspects.
Police have questioned hundreds of people in the last two days, including several inmates of Tihar and other jails, but no arrests have been made so far.
Investigators have found that the Honda City was being tailed by three other employees of Kalra in an I-20 car which, however, was held up at a traffic signal.
But during questioning, the responses of Sandeep, one of the occupants in the I-20, were found to be contradictory and he is under the scanner in the case, police said.
Sandeep is a relative of Ashok Ghogha, leader of a Haryana based gang, which strengthens suspicion against him. Ghogha is currently lodged in Rohtak Jail.
However, Sandeep`s statements have also put Subodh, driver of Honda City car, under suspicion as he told police that transporting money was a routine affair but on Tuesday, Subodh took a different route due to which his car was left behind.
The sudden change in route is also being probed by the police as it strongly suspects that an insider was involved in the loot.
Tuesday`s robbery was carried out in a matter of minutes with the robbers fleeing with Rs 7.69 crore cash in broad daylight near Lajpat Nagar Metro station.
