BPL 2019: Indian national behind the bars over betting scandal

The ongoing edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) started on January 5 and most of the matches have gone right down to the wire, albeit some of them have been low scoring. In the meantime, the tournament has already been a witness to a few betting issues. Back on January 8, five Indians were fined for illegal betting during matches at the iconic Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium.

After the shambolic issue, another such issue has come to the fore. Recently, it has been learned that another Indian by the name of Imran Pashar, hailing from Bihar, has been handed one month jail for illegal betting through his mobile phone during games in Sylhet. The mobile court of Executive Magistrate Mohammad Mainul Hossain Chowdhury sent him behind the bars and also seized his phone.

“He was trying to establish contact in India for several times and later, we got proof that he was trying to bet. He is an Indian citizen and he was betting from here. He could not furnish any kind of documents like passport. He does not speak Bengali and can only communicate in Hindi. He admitted his crime and said he won’t repeat this kind of mistake further,” he was quoted as saying in The Independent.

A controversially marred tournament

The BPL has been marred by controversies even before its inaugural season in 2012. Mashrafe Mortaza, one of the national team’s stalwarts, reported to the team management that matches could be fixed using a spot-fixing approach by a fellow cricketer. In 2013, additional allegations emerged after a match between the Dhaka Gladiators, now Dynamites and Chittagong Kings, now Vikings.

Mohammad Ashraful was found guilty and he was questioned by the ICC’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU). The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) also handed a 10-year ban to umpire Nadir Shah after a sting operation by an Indian TV channel found him willing to fix matches. After a couple of seasons, the event didn’t take place for two years and was back in 2015.

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