Police arrest six bookies

Panaji - Indian police said on Monday they have arrested six bookmakers in Goa state who were part of an syndicate betting on Indian Premier League cricket matches.

The tournament has been reeling from a spot-fixing scandal which has led to the arrest of three cricketers and 11 bookies. It was not immediately clear if the Goa arrests were linked to the other case.

"We have arrested six persons in connection with cricket betting activity," Goa's deputy inspector general O.P. Mishra said, adding that investigations are still in progress.

A senior officer said the bookies were all from Mumbai but had been in Goa for the last 45 days - since the IPL tournament began - staying in a rented apartment. The arrests were made in a joint operation with Delhi police.

"We are interrogating the persons who were arrested earlier in the day. Whether they are linked to any greater syndicate, underworld or any player in IPL would be known only later," the officer said, declining to be named.

The police were expected to address a press conference later on Monday to reveal the names of the accused.

On Sunday the son-in-law of India's cricket board chief was suspended from any involvement in the sport pending an inquiry into his role in the spot-fixing scandal.

Gurunath Meiyappan, part of the management team of IPL team Chennai Super Kings, was arrested by police in Mumbai on Friday for allegedly betting on matches in connivance with bookies and a Bollywood actor.

Spot-fixing is the illegal practice of rigging specific parts of a match for financial gain. Betting on cricket is also illegal in India.

The three cricketers are accused of deliberately bowling badly in specific overs in return for tens of thousands of dollars, after striking deals with bookmakers.

This year's IPL tournament ended on Sunday night.