NEW DELHI, May 16: Indian police said on Thursday they had arrested three cricketers, including ex-Test pace bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, after they allegedly accepted tens of thousands of dollars for spot-fixing.

Eleven bookmakers were also arrested in connection with the inquiry, said Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, as he gave details of three games in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) at the centre of the corruption probe.

Mr Kumar told a news conference that more bookmakers were expected to be arrested as part of the inquiry which has already seen the accused players suspended by the Indian cricket authorities.

Spot-fixing is an illegal activity where a specific part of a game, but not the outcome, is fixed.

Sreesanth, who has played 27 Tests for India, is alleged to have been paid four million rupees (about $75,000) to give away around 14 runs in an over while playing for the Rajasthan Royals against the Kings XI Punjab on May 9.

His team-mate Ankeet Chavan had also allegedly agreed to give away the same number of runs in a match on Wednesday night against the Mumbai Indians in exchange for six million rupees ($110,000), police said.

A third player, Ajit Chandila, was believed to have been paid two million rupees ($36,000), for giving away a set number of runs in a match between the Rajasthan Royals and the Pune Warriors, police said.

“This much money has had exchanged hands. This money was given to them by the bookies,” Mr Kumar told a press conference.

“The modus operandi included asking the bowlers to give pre-decided signals with the help of their accessories like watches, wrist bands, neck chains and towels.

“The bowlers were asked to concede at least a given number of runs in a pre-determined and mutually decided over. After receiving the signal from the bowler, the bookies would bet heavily and make huge profits.”

Mr Kumar said the fixing was organised by members of the Mumbai mafia, adding that the overall mastermind was ‘sitting abroad’.

“There is definite proof that the underworld is involved but it would be wrong to take names. There is no concrete evidence on the basis of which I can name any member of the underworld,” he said.

Sreesanth, 30, and his two team-mates, who have yet to play for India, were arrested by Delhi police in Mumbai after Wednesday night’s match and were brought to the national capital for questioning, Mr Kumar said.

As was agreed upon, Sreesanth tucked a towel in his waistband to signal to the bookie, giving him enough time to “indulge in heavy betting”, the police chief said.

“Sreesanth bowled the first over without the towel. In the second over, he put a towel in his trousers and then, in order to give bookies time to indulge in betting, he did some warming up, some stretching exercises, and then went on to give 13 runs,” Mr Kumar said.

“The BCCI has zero tolerance to corruption. We will offer all co-operation to the Delhi police and all other authorities in their investigations in this matter,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement.

Sreesanth, whose last Test was against England two years ago, is no stranger to controversy, and was famously slapped by his team-mate Harbhajan Singh during an IPL match in 2008.

Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said a mechanism must be put in place “to prevent such unethical activities and ensure clean sports in the country”.

Former India captain Saurav Ganguly called for a life ban on the players if found guilty.

“Nobody can prevent corruption other than players,” Ganguly told the CNN-IBN news channel. “It’s about individuals and nobody can force you to bowl a no-ball or a wide. The players found guilty should be banned for life.”

Former India all-rounder Kirti Azad, now an Indian lawmaker, said there wasn’t enough of a deterrent against spot-fixing.

“This had to happen and will happen again because enough action is not taken against such people,” he said. “Bans of a year or two will not help. People should get life bans, or else no one will be able to stop this menace.”

Angry fans burnt posters of the players during a protest in Bangalore.

Last year, little-known all-rounder T.P. Sudhindra was handed a life ban after he was shown in a sting operation by India TV news channel as agreeing to bowl a no-ball at a predetermined time in a local T20 game in the central Indian city of Indore.

Spot-fixing hit the headlines when three Pakistani players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir – were banned for contriving no-balls in return for money in a 2010 Test in England.

All three, along with their agent Mazhar Majeed, were also jailed by an English court in 2011 for spot-fixing. The three players were released last year.—Agencies