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The name of Bangladesh cricketer Shakib Al Hasan's sister has cropped up in an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate of India in connection with the Mahadev online betting app case.
Both Shakib and Bangladesh Cricket Board, however, have declined to comment on the matter.
The Enforcement Directorate has recently arrested Girish Talreja and Suraj Chokhani, said to be close associates of Hari Shankar Tibrewal, a Dubai-based hawala operator and one of the promoters of Mahadev app, bdnews24.com reported, citing the India Today newspaper.
Quoting a statement released by the agency on Friday, the newspaper said it had conducted raids on Tibrewal's premises. The raids revealed that he owned and operated one of the illegal betting websites.
Through his Dubai-based entities, he had been investing the betting proceeds in the Indian Stock Market by way of the Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) route.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, Suraj Chokhani used to invest Tribewal's money in stocks of listed companies.
Besides this, Chokhani invested in an app in Bangladesh, in which one of his partners is ‘Janatul Hasan’, sister of star cricketer Shakib, according to the report. The actual name of Shakib’s sister is Jannatul Ferdous Ritu.
Shakib did not take phone calls or reply to WhatsApp messages requesting his comments on the case.
BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said he had not spoken to Shakib about the matter after seeing the news on Sunday morning. “I’m not in a position to comment on this,” he said.
“I have no idea,” said Jalal Yunus, the head of cricket operations at BCB.
Md Asaduzzaman, an additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police heading the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, said he was unaware of the issue.
He added they were not working on the betting app or Shakib’s sister.
Harunor Rashid, another additional commissioner heading DMP’s Detective Branch, said they have no information on the matter.
Controversies have trailed Shakib throughout his career as the world’s No. 1 all-rounder.
The International Cricket Council banned him for two years, including one-year suspended ban, in 2019 for not reporting corrupt approaches.
His partnership with BetWinner News, a website linked to betting, made headlines in 2022. He later cut ties to the website after BCB talked to him amid intense criticism.
Shakib was elected MP as a ruling Awami League candidate for the Magura-1 seat in the Jan 7 general election.
BCB has rested the former captain from the ongoing home series against Sri Lanka after the Bangladesh Premier League tournament.