dna exclusive: Suresh Bhagat's brother vows to take over 'matka' business

Seated in his sprawling sea-facing house in Walkeshwar is Vinod Bhagat, 63, a businessman and a matka (gambling) enthusiast. Almost two months after the sessions court sentenced six people to life imprisonment for the 2008 murder of his brother and “matka king” Suresh Bhagat, Vinod feels that justice has been done. However, he also believes that more needs to be done.

“It has been a five-year struggle to get justice for my brother.

I have more evidence to prove how he was wrongly framed in almost 14 cases in the past, including narcotics, attempt to murder, gambling and custody of weapons. His life was always under threat. If these accused had been taken into custody much earlier, my brother would not have been murdered,” Vinod said.

He said that Suresh’s brother-in-law Kiran Chheda, who is currently running Suresh’s Kalyan matka, is wanted in many cases. “He has falsely implicated my brother in several cases. He runs the family matka business but I will take it from his hands. I know it’s in the wrong hands,” added Vinod.

Quite candidly, he attributed the reason for his brother’s death to the successful matka empire started by his father and later taken over by Suresh. As he laid a deck of cards and points chart on the table to explain the rules of matka, he said, “Matka has been a boon and bane in my family.

My relationship with this business is that of love-hate. I left the business 35 years back when I lost my three-month-old son to illness. Matka killed my step brother Vasant Shah and my brother.” However, Vinod is keen to get back into the business.

Vinod’s father, Kalyanji Bhagat, a grocery shop owner based in Worli, was one of the people who pioneered matka gambling in 1962 when he started accepting bets based on the opening and closing rates of cotton traded on the New York wholesale market.

“Those days, punters used to bet on these numbers. Later, people placed bets on open and close rates of wholesale cotton traded on Bombay’s cotton exchange at Sewri,” said Vinod. From here, matka took over the whole country, with operators, punters and bookies flourishing to make profits.

According to Vinod, matka has lost its “old charm” and is deceitful now. “There are still more than 25 matka bazaars Main, Kalyan, Milan etc in Mumbai and lakhs gamble on it, day in and day out. Some of the popular bazaars, such as Main, Kalyan and Milan, rake in a profit of Rs6-8 crore a month.

The total worth of matka is more than Rs100 crore in a month in the country. These days, those who operate matkas rake in the moolah and punters and bookies are cheated in a big way,” said Vinod.

He added that Mumbai used to be a den of more than 5,000 retail addas. “With strict police raids,  the addas have vanished. They are spread over places such as Igatpuri, Nashik, Pune, Kalyan and Ulhasnagar,” he said, adding that punters of Mumbai are increasingly using cell phones and internet to place bets.

“The matka operators have 60 to 100 phones on them and gambling happens through the day.”

Vinod also said it is high time matka is legalised in the country. “I believe that if it is legalised, the number of crimes will only reduce. It is also a way of empowerment, especially among the poor. I will personally appeal to the home ministry to legalise it,” he added.

How it all began
Vinod’s father, Kalyanji Bhagat, a grocery shop owner based in Worli, was one of the people who pioneered matka gambling in 1962 when he started accepting bets based on the opening and closing rates of cotton traded on the New York wholesale market.

From here, matka took over the whole country, with operators, punters and bookies flourishing to make profits.