Nepal Police said it will investigate the alleged match fixing case on five current and former national team footballers under treason charge as more details emerged on Thursday, leaving the country’s football fraternity in a state of shock.

National team captain Sagar Thapa was detained in Kathmandu on Wednesday, along with his deputy Sandeep Rai, second-choice goalkeeper Ritesh Thapa, former internationals Anjan KC and Bikash Singh Chhetri for their alleged involvement in fixing Nepal’s international matches. Their arrest follows a month-long surveillance during which police found suspicious transactions in their bank accounts. Police are also searching three other players, a football official and a bank staff in connection with the case. Metropolitan Crime Division chief SSP Sarbendra Khanal said all five players had confessed to their involvement in fixing games. “They have accepted taking money from bookies, without naming any official or player,” Khanal told the press conference on Thursday.

Police investigations have found most of Nepal’s international matches since 2008 had been fixed with Thapa and KC being the “key players” behind the scam. KC started fixing matches as a player and began extending his networks after he was appointed a coach, according to police. KC left stepped down as the coach of Three Star recently after a brief stint.

Each player used to take $5,000 for fixing a single match, Khanal explained. “Much of the amount was pocketed by Thapa and KC who would then distribute to other players. As many as six matches were found to have been fixed this way.”

In one instance, the players had fixed the 2012 Nehru Cup match against Cameroon in which they were asked to lose by a 4-0 margin but they were denied payment after Nepal conceded five goals. “As Nepal were trailing 4-0 with a few minutes remaining on the clock, Ritesh was taken off the field. Bikesh Kuthu, who replaced him, went on to concede another goal,” SSP Khanal said, referring to the goalkeeper’s confession during interrogation.

The players used to fix matches with bookies Wilson Raj and Titani Periasamy of Singapore, and Malaysia’s Kesavan Patan, who is currently in Moldova.

After calling time on their playing careers, KC and Chhetri often attended Nepal’s international matches abroad with intent to fix them. Nepal’s Asian Games qualifying matches against Palestine (4-0) and Saudi Arabia (6-0) are also under scrutiny. During investigation, police also found that KC has made a huge investment in a casino in Sikkim and that he had a close relation with notorious goon Dinesh Adhikari aka “Chari” who was shot dead in a police encounter last year.