The probe into former Mumbai dance bargirl Tarannum Khan's role in fixing cricket matches is zeroing in on Jagdish Sodha, the film producer and bookie linked to Kenya's former captain Maurice Odumbe, banned for five years last year.

Officials from the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), the investigative arm of the International Cricket Council (ICC), who visited Delhi and Mumbai recently, have been gathering information about Sodha's association with Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

"We know that Sodha's activities were concentrated in the western suburb of Vile Parle, the same place Deepa Bar is located and where Tarannum used to work as a dancer. It was the hotspot of cricket betting," highly placed sources in the ACSU told.

During questioning, Tannu, as she is called, reportedly admitted to knowing Sodha, a film distributor, real estate agent and the producer of the film "Ab Bas", starring former Miss World Diana Hayden and model Shawar Ali.

According to the sources, it was the ACSU's tip-off on Tarannum's activities to the Mumbai Police a few weeks ago that led to the current round of questioning.

During the course of their investigations, ACSU officials found that large sums of money had been illegally laundered from Sri Lanka to Mumbai.

"A woman who had allegedly accompanied a renowned bookie from India to Sri Lanka was believed to be involved in the transaction. We will get to the bottom of this soon," said an ACSU official.

The ACSU knows that Muralitharan visited Mumbai several times. An inquiry by Mumbai Police further revealed that actor Aditya Panscholi had reportedly introduced Muralitharan to Tarannum 16 months ago.

Though Panscholi denies knowing Tarannum, who was taken in for questioning Saturday, he admits to taking the Sri Lankan off-spinner to the dance bar.

Tarannum was questioned again Tuesday when the name of another bookie called Digjam, or DJ, in betting circles surfaced during the five-hour interrogation.

"So far, the names of four bookies appear on her mobile along with coded text messages that refer to betting in matches. We are trying to find out the names of all bookies she was in touch with," said a top police official.

Though Tarannum has now admitted that she was involved in betting as a punter for more than six months, Mumbai Police are digging for other possible links, even her possible connections with the underworld, before firming up a case against her.

It is for this reason that a parallel probe is on to find out why she visited Dubai in 1998 and whether they were only for dance shows.

Efforts are on to build a watertight case against Tarannum as a charge on betting in cricket matches is a bailable offence. Film producer-bookie Sodha appears to be key in the entire racket.

It was after a year of painstaking investigations that the ACSU nailed former Kenyan skipper Odumbe's relationship with Sodha. Former Kenyan judge Ahmed Ibrahim, who headed an inquiry in August last year, found Odumbe guilty on 12 counts of receiving benefits, including receiving money from Sodha to fix matches.

He found Odumbe guilty of receiving Rs.1.25 million ($28,000) as well as hotel accommodation in India on several occasions from Sodha and his associates.

Odumbe was the first cricketer to be banned since 2000, when revelations from then South Africa captain Hansie Cronje prompted investigations worldwide.