Arrested bookies were in touch with D-gang

Clarification: Mr Raj Shetty has clarified that he is neither chief lieutenant of Sharad Shetty, nor has he tied up with Santosh Shetty, and he further denies being connected with the killing of Farid Tanasha. Mr. Raj Shetty also states that he is in no way connected or associated with any of the above-named persons.
MUMBAI: The recent arrest of two bookies, Raju and Harish, by the Ahmedabad police has rattled bookiedom.This is because these persons are fronting for bigtime operator Sunil Dubai who is affiliated to the Dawood Ibrahim gang. Sunil Dubai is reported to generate funds worth hundreds of crores annually for D-company.
Sources in the police said over 3,500 phone calls were made by the Ahmedabad-based bookies with D-gang members based in Pakistan. They said there was also a strong hawala angle to the developments in Ahmedabad.
D-company now virtually controls the betting industry. Earlier, the Arun Gawli gang was controlling the betting syndicate led by Suresh Bhagat. But following the murder of Bhagat and the arrest of Gawli, this syndicate has collapsed.
Dawood, too, has upped his stakes in narcotics smuggling with Santosh Shetty, a bigtime drug smuggler, who was earlier with Chhota Rajan, defecting to D-company. Shetty is known to control a vast network of smugglers spread across Malaysia, Thailand, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. He has reportedly teamed up with the supporters of Sharad Shetty, who was killed by the Chhota Rajan gang a few years ago in Dubai. Sharad Shetty's chief lieutenant Raj Shetty has tied up with Santosh Shetty. With the new police commissioner D Sivanandhan turning the heat on drug dealers in Mumbai, many of them are relocating to Navi Mumbai, Pune and other cities.
Many of the drug dealers have diversified into real estate and hoteliering. A big name in the narcotics world, Lacchu Seth, is raking in crores in real estate development, while the Sharad Shetty gang has entered the hospitality industry with several acquisitions in Mumbai. A major realty firm, which had recently made a vain bid for a mega construction project, is known to front for the underworld.