Tuesday, May 21, 2013

IPL Spot Fixing Scam : Supreme Court refuses to ban IPL, BCCI pulled up; Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh arrested


The Supreme Court today refused to ban the IPL as a game and as a league as it dismissed a petition seeking to scrap the remaining matches of IPL-6 amid growing concerns about corruption in the sport. The apex court, however, pulled up the BCCI for its lackadaisical attitude and asked for an action report within two weeks.

Meanwhile, the spot fixing saga snared its first Bollywood victim with Vindoo Dara Singh being arrested by Mumbai crime branch officials for his links with betting mafia. Vindoo, the son of the late Dara Singh, will be produced in a Mumbai lower court on Wednesday. News channels quoted sources as saying Vindoo was arrested following the arrest of Ramesh Vyas, who is linked to key bookies Jupiter and others named by Delhi police.

Vindoo, the winner of a realty show, was in constant touch with Vyas, according to call details.

News channel CNN-IBN quoted sources as saying Vindoo was named by Vyas and questioned by the Mumbai Police on Monday night before being formally arrested today morning. Vindoo has reportedly admitted to betting after being questioned for hours by Mumbai Police.

SUPREME COURT'S RULING
While directing the one man commission appointed by the BCCI to look into IPL irregularities and submit its report within two weeks, the apex court said: "The credibility of the game should be maintained. Spot-fixing is because of lackadaisical attitude of the BCCI and must stop."

An apex court bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Dipak Misra asked the BCCI to take appropriate actions against the individual players as well as the team indulging in illegal activities in order to make sure the "gentleman's game" keeps up its status.

"There has to be scientific, rational and dispassionate approach by BCCI to stop fixing," the Supreme Court said,

The court also said that even judges were shocked by the spot-fixing scandal and added cricket is a gentleman's game and should remain as such.

In its reply, the BCCI said it has appointed the board's anti-corruption unit chief Ravi Sawani to look into the IPL irregularities; and added anti-graft officials will accompany IPL teams.

Former Test bowler S Sreesanth and two other players were arrested along with 11 bookmakers on Thursday on suspicion of spot-fixing in the IPL.

The case has prompted the government to look at the possibility of introducing a law to combat match fixing and spot-fixing.

Cricket fan Sudarsh Awasti, an architect by profession and self-declared social activist, had lodged the petition with the court demanding the scrapping of the remaining four IPL matches, including Sunday's final.

He had also called for a special investigation to be launched to get to the bottom of the spot-fixing scandal and for the league to be banned from next year.

POLICE QUESTIONS TRIO AGAIN
Even as police prepares to ask for further custody of the three cricketers arrested for alleged spot fixing, a special cell of the Delhi Police questioned S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan again today before producing them in a Saket court later in the day.

According to news channel Times Now, the Special Police has prepared a report of its probe into the case so far. Sources told the channel that the cash and gifts allegedly given to the three players is yet to be traced.

A day after Rajasthan Royals filed a police complaint against their three players - Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan - arrested for alleged spot-fixing in IPL matches and, pending inquiry, suspended the trio's contracts; the Delhi Police will ask for further custody of the three cricketers, and seven of the 11 bookies when the accused are produced at a Saket court in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The three cricketers were interrogated for the fifth straight day by the Delhi Police yesterday and were questioned together for the first time. Sources say all three confessed to their crime, but blamed each other for dragging them into spot-fixing.

Meanwhile, Baburao Yadav, the former Ranji cricketer detained yesterday has been formally arrested and is also likely to be produced in court. Sources told news channel CNN-IBN that Baburao was the conduit between bookie Sunil Bhatia and Chandila. Delhi Police had yesterday recovered Rs.20 lakh from the house of a relative of Chandila in Haryana's Palwal.

Even as the lawyer for Sreesanth prepares to file for bail, the case against him and Chandila has tightened with developments in the probe by the Delhi Police and the Mumbai Police.

A Delhi Police team led by Commissioner Neeraj Kumar is questioning S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan before they are taken to court. The police are likely to tell the court that the names of more cricketers need to be probed.

CHAIRMAN MEETS POLICE
The Rajasthan Royals chairman Ranjit Barthakur has met the Delhi police special cell handling the spot-fixing case.

ANOTHER BOOKIE ARRESTED
The Chennai Police have arrested a bookie Prashant in connection with the IPL spot-fixing scandal. The police have recovered Rs 4 lakh cash from him.

SEVEN LUCRATIVE MINUTES
In the space of just seven minutes early in the evening on May 9, cricket bookie Chandresh Patel allegedly made Rs 2.5 crore. Those were the minutes that India pacer Sreesanth took to send down his second, allegedly fixed, over in Mohali, conceding a predetermined number of runs. Those were also the minutes in which Patel made his killing, reports Indian Express.

'HELPING ICC FIGHT FIXING
Baburao, who was questioned by Delhi police yesterday, claimed that he was helping the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) fight the problem of fixing in cricket.

"I have nothing to do with spot fixing. I haven't done anything wrong so I am ready to provide all the information. In fact, I am helping the ICC's ACU on certain issues," Baburao told Times of India on Monday from Delhi, just before he was taken to the special cell of Delhi Police for questioning.

CONTENTS OF SREESANTH'S LAPTOP 
Mumbai Police sources told CNN-IBN that the examination of Sreesanth's laptop and notebook points to his e-mail interactions with a suspected Bollywood casting director, who sent him pictures of models. Sources say that some e-mails, possibly Sreesanth's conversations with Jiju and a bookie Jupiter, have been deleted and now the cyber cell will be asked to retrieve all the mails.

NO PRESSURE ON US: DELHI POLICE
Delhi Police said yesterday there was no pressure on them to go soft on the three players accused of spot fixing as officials of the BCCI's anti-corruption unit met the capital's police chief seeking cooperation in the case.

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar told NDTV 24X7 channel after meeting BCCI's ACSU chief Ravi Sawani.: "There is no pressure whatsoever and, in any case, even if there is any pressure we are going to take this probe to its logical end, come what may."

LEGALISE BETTING: ZINTA 
As the spot-fixing scandal puts a black spot on the Indian Premier League, Kings XI Punjab owners Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia have come up with suggestions like putting franchise owners in the IPL governing council, legalising betting and carrying out random polygraph tests on players.

CASTING DIRECTOR QUESTIONED
The Mumbai Police yesterday questioned a woman and a Bollywood casting director for their links to spot-fixing in the IPL.

The night Sreesanth was arrested, he was in a car with two models who allegedly doubled up as escorts. One of the women was questioned yesterday.

The casting director questioned by the police had allegedly sent Sreesanth pictures and numbers of 13 models and small-time actresses.

COURT DISPOSES OF SREESANTH'S PLEA
A Delhi court yesterday disposed of a plea by Sreesanth, seeking a copy of the first information report (FIR) registered against him.

Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Rao disposed of Sreesanth's plea as his lawyer did not turn up in the court to pursue it.

Sreesanth's advocate Deepak Prakash, filing the application, told the court that the accused should be told about the grounds of his arrest. Sreesanth was an international-level player and had no reasons to get involved in spot fixing, he added.

BANGALORE CONNECTION 
The two 'escort girls' accompanying Sreesanth when Delhi police arrested him in Mumbai last week, are from Bangalore, highly placed police sources said.

The Bangalore girls not only accompanied the Kerala-based cricketer, but also monitored his movements and passed it to their 'bosses', suspected to be bookies, said police sources.
COURTESY:
Yahoo! Cricket
http://cricket.yahoo.com/news/spot-fixing--police-to-seek-further-custody-of-tainted-trio-051242912.html

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