New Delhi, Nov. 1 :    New Delhi, Nov. 1:  Mukesh Gupta's story is much more than a mere rags-to-riches one. Variously known as M.K. Gupta, MK and John, he shot into the headlines when Hansie Cronje named him before the King Commission earlier this year. Owner of a jewellery shop in Delhi's South Extension, MK appears to have cooperated with the CBI and given them an insight into betting and fixing. MK has given details of how he trapped cricketers and how Manoj Prabhakar and Azharuddin became his leading clients. The CBI report has an entire chapter on bookies, punters and match-fixers and their dealings with cricketers. MK leads the pack. Son of a former Uttar Pradesh government employee who worked in a mithai shop after retirement, Gupta gave up his job of a clerk with Syndicate Bank in 1989. He had already smelt money - real big-time money - in the cricket betting business. MK perfected the art and science of betting. He gauged the possibility of making money in this trade soon after India won the World Cup in 1983. He started betting on a small scale and became a good student of the game, placing his money more intelligently than the others. He got in touch with other punters in Delhi and then established a network in Mumbai. Cleverly, he invested his money in Ajay Sharma, then growing in stature as a budding cricketer of the Delhi team. It was through Sharma that MK went on to build a long-lasting friendship first with Prabhakar and then with Azhar. MK used his contacts in the cricketing fraternity, especially Prabhakar, to build a friendship with several overseas cricketers, many of whom he bribed. MK paid off demi-gods like Martin Crowe, Mark Waugh and Alec Stewart. Sometime in the mid-nineties, his relations with Prabhakar soured as he gradually realised that the player was passing on wrong information. With the help of Sharma, MK then struck a lucrative friendship with Azhar. MK told the CBI that he gave up betting in May 1998 and concentrated on his jewellery business. Mumbai-based Anil Steel alias Anil Nagada started cricket betting in 1992 and was close not just to MK, but also to Prabhakar and Azhar. Steel admitted to the CBI that on behalf of MK, he had paid Rs 20 to 25 lakh to Dr Ali Irani, the former physio. Irani acted as conduit for Azhar. Steel is also famous for the rapport he shared with Asif Iqbal. The former Pakistan skipper has long been providing Steel information on pitch, weather and probable results of matches across the world. He had also met Ajay Jadeja in MK's hotel room in 1996. Anand Sagar Saxena alias Anand alias Chikna was very close to MK and, through him, to Prabhakar. Sagar has maintained books for MK and specialised in paying off punters. In the mid-nineties, however, he fell out with MK but continued to be in touch with Prabhakar who often stayed in his hotel in Mussoorie. Sanjiv Kohli alias Tipu Kohli runs a chain of restaurants in Delhi called Moti Mahal. He has been close to bookies like Hans and Deepak of Delhi and with Shobhan Mehta of Mumbai. He, too, knows Prabhakar. Kohli says he was in touch with the former all-rounder during England's visit in 1993 and in some subsequent series as well. Kohli says he paid Prabhakar around Rs 1 lakh to provide information on matches in which he played. The player had asked him for money when he contested the polls. Kohli has also been close to Rattan Mehta, another Delhi-based match-fixer. The list is huge. Jai Bhagwan Gupta belongs to the family of Gyan Gupta and it appears that the entire Gupta clan, including members like Ajay, Ameesh and Gyan, were in touch with many cricketers, including Azhar, whom they paid from time to time.