Shobhan Mehta, one of India's most notorious bookies, has admitted to not only touching base with five international cricketers for information but also revealed his entire domestic network and links abroad, police officials said.

On Saturday, Ahmedabad Crime Branch Additional Commissioner of Police D.G. Vanjhara told reporters that Mehta confessed to having direct and indirect links with former Indian captains Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, as also Nayan Mongia, late South African captain Hansie Cronje and Australia's Mark Waugh.

Mehta, who was arrested in Mumbai last month, had been admitted to a private hospital after being released on bail. The Gujarat Police arrested him from Mumbai and brought him to Ahmedabad for questioning.

The 42-year-old diamond merchant, who has been in the illegal betting racket for over 15 years, had a well-entrenched network that helped him operate with ease during all major cricket tourneys, a police officer said.

"He used to be regularly in contact with 14 punters and almost and an equal number of bookies. All operations were carried out in hotel rooms or the residences of his friends," the officer added.

"It was a close circle and they had powerful patrons backing them," he said.

Mehta's pointsman Arjun Nihalchandani, though a big player from Saurashtra operated mostly out of the Gulf and has already landed in the Mumbai police net. Two other bookies from Nihalchandani's network - Munir Khan and Lucky Chand - are still on the run.

Two other international bookies that Mehta contacted frequently were Ijju Miya of Pakistan and Lalchand from the Gulf, the police officer said.

On an average, the police say, Mehta would oversee betting in at least 200 cricket matches a year. The stakes varied on the tournament and the teams involved.

A dossier prepared by the Mumbai police following his initial interrogation revealed that international bookmaker Ladbrokes and online sports major William Hill set the benchmark for placing the odds on matches.

"However, Mehta and his wide ring of bookies did not just take bets on the outcome of the match but on every facet of the game from the first ball of a match being bowled," said a member of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit of the International Cricket Council.

"He was an expert on spread betting and the odds sometimes, fluctuated wildly," said an official.

Mehta, who possesses a Webley Scott revolver used to change his mobile phone cash card his after every match.

"All transactions were in cash. Hawala operators were used to transferring of monies from abroad," the police officer said. 

The crime branch of the Gujarat Police claims to possess a list of major bookies that were in touch with Mehta including big names such as Dinesh Kalgi, Dilip Bhimraj, Lakhubai from Ahmeadabad, Shiva and Deepak Rajouri from Delhi and Sanjay from Jaipur.

Mehta has named Raju Rajkot, Dinesh Ahmedabad and Narayan Ahmedabad among the other bookies he knew.