Tag: N Srinivasan

  • Match Fixing Gurunath ‘Bet’ Ten Years CSK Entertained Vindoo

    The IPL Match Fixing is getting murkier.

    I indicated in a post ,couple days of ago, raising some questions for ICC,BCCI,Franchises and a post expressing my view that in view of the proximity of MS Dhoni to N.Srinivasan,BCCI President, that Dhoni might be questioned for the IPL Match fixing because of the  closeness of Sakshi Dhoni with Sakshi Jhula, who is a close friend of the arrested Sreeesanth.

    I expect this in a couple of days after the excitement of the IPL6 Final is over, to avoid excessive publicity and a drop in match attendance.

    Gurunath Meiyappan’s Arrest.

    Gurunath Meiyappan and MS Dhoni.
    Gurunath Meiyappan and MS Dhoni.

    CSK Boss, Gurunath , son-in-law of BCCI President was arrested in Mumbai and being produced in court on 25 May 2013.

    Gurunath tried to buy time till 27 May to appear before the CBI, fearing arrest, expecting to be arrested and kept in custody at least for two days(Saturday and Sunday)

    But unexpectedly he met with the CBI and was promptly arrested.

    There is an angle worth pursuing.

    The North Indian. especially  the Kolkata lobby does not like the South Lobby, especially afer the unseating of Jagmohan Dalmiya who was hunted by AC Muthiah and Srinivasan.

    Then came Lalith Modi affair, who was pursued with vigour by the BCCI, headed by the same Group.

    The Money bags did not like this and they were waiting for an  opportunity to score back.

    To complicate the  issue,N.Srinivasan has created a lot of enemies and heart burn by becoming the BCCI President.

    His one time colleague AC Muthiah went to Court on Srinivasan.s conflict of interests , being BCCI President and a Franchisee , CSK.

    The case is pending in the Supreme Court.

    All these factors did bring the issue to a boil.

    As the Srinivasan Group tried to extricate themselves, the other Group seems to have brought in pressure mainly political to have Gurunath arrested.

    Recall the link of an NCP MP with the IPL’s then Commissioner Lalith Modi and the Mumbai Political Big wig.

    Now that Gurunath  has been arrested , reportedly confessed to being friends with Vindoo Dara Singh ,did ‘ bet’ in a Kolkata Match and the CSK players used to entertain Gurunath, more skeletons are expected to tumble from the cupboard.

    Srinivasan is expected to resign in the next twenty-four hours.

    What did Gurunath reveal?

    Ashwin, 44, minces no words while disclosing his brother-in-law’s alleged involvement in betting and spot-fixing. “Guru (he addresses Meiyappan that way) had several connections with known bookies from Chennai and Dubai and was regularly in touch with them even before the IPL started.” he said. “What began as a relatively smaller side-business became a full-fledged one over the years.”

    Pointing out how Meiyappan is a Chettiar, a community known for its affinity to trade and business, Ashwin told dna: “He has been steadily increasing his foothold over my father’s business. Publicly,  his wife and my sister Rupa is an executive director in India Cements, my father’s company, and Guru has agreed to merely remain the head of Chennai Super Kings.”

    The MBA in finance from Cornell University is equally forthcoming about his father’s “questionable” decision to invest in a small aircraft, which needed refuelling, when he could own one. “On all his trips, to and from anywhere abroad, isn’t it strange that the mighty N Srinivasan has to waste four hours in Dubai every time while his aircraft refuels? And mind you, the fuel halt will not be at Kuwait, Sharjah or anywhere else,” the son of BCCI’s most powerful man disclosed.

    “Who are these regular golf partners he plays with on these halts?” According to Ashwin, Srinivasan has the wherewithal to buy a bigger aircraft, but still chose to invest in one which requires a fuelling halt “for convenient reasons”.

    Turning his ire to his brother-in-law again, Ashwin says Guru is purposely poisoning his parents’ mind to ensure that the rift between them widens. A year ago, Ashwin accused his father of homophobia and of using his clout to unleash a cycle of violence against him and his partner Avi Mukherjee. The couple alleged that the police picked them up from Escobar, an upmarket Bandra restaurant-pub, on April 30, 2012, and beat them with iron rods at the behest of Srinivasan.

    Calling his brother-in-law ungrateful, Ashwin said: “He keeps raising my drug-addiction problem to tell people how he was pushed into lending a helping hand in my father’s businesses when even he knows that I am more qualified and experienced than him.” As proof that his partner and he stayed away from drugs since 2002, Ashwin showed dna their urine reports. Their psychiatrist Dr SL Khanna confirmed the same.

    Ashwin reveals that his parents were unhappy when Guru and Rupa started dating each other after meeting at the Madras Club while playing pool. “They were livid because he was not a Brahmin, but a Chettiar. My mother, Chitra, threatened to disown Rupa, but my father, who cursed Guru and his family to the skies after gulping down five scotches every evening, had no qualms joining him over golf given the clout of his family-run AVM Group,” said Ashwin, who has in the past headed the projects department at the ABB Group’s Zurich office.

    According to him, his parents were in talks with chess champion Viswanathan Anand for marrying Rupa, but she eventually married Guru. “When my maternal uncle Shankar passed away, my parents did not want to call them for the last rites, but I persisted with my mother and saw to it that they were called,” he revealed.

    “Though Rupa and Guru have not spoken to me since I fell foul with my parents, I feel no rancour against them. But how can I tolerate him maligning me for a drug problem from a decade ago to manipulate my parents?”

    According to highly placed sources, during the course of interrogation with Vindu and after corroborating certain electronic evidences, it got evident that Gurunath provided vital information about his team strategy to Vindu who further passed it on to the bookies. The CSK boss allegedly discussed team strategies with his Captain MS Dhoni before every IPL match.

    Gurunath allegedly passed detailed information about what was the  playing eleven ,  what did they plan if CSK won the toss, their target if they choose to bat first, bowlers who were to bowl crucial or initial six overs and more.
    Sources informed that there is certain electronic evidence which suggest that Vindu on several occasions also took the main bookie on conference calls with the CSK boss.
    Son-in-law of BCCI President and owner of Chennai Super King Gurunath Maiyappan was arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch after questioning him for three hours at Mumbai Police head-quarters regarding his alleged role in the ongoing IPL spot-fixing row.
    Gurunath was allegedly in constant touch with Vindoo and it is because of this constant contact that the police decided to call him in for questioning.
    Police sources claimed to have evidence indicating that Meiyappan was closely associated with the recently busted betting syndicate. “After questioning him, we will decide whether to make him an accused in the case or a witness,” an officer said.Meiyappan was summoned for questioning after Vindu told the cops about his association with him. Vindu claimed he had placed bets on IPL 6 matches on behalf of Meiyappan, who apparently lost Rs 1 crore in the process.Meiyappan had proved elusive for the police and media alike for the last few days. It turned up that he had been staying at the holiday home of his father-in-law N Srinivasan — the BCCIpresident and controlling shareholder of India Cements — in the picturesque Coaker’s Walk area of Kodaikanal. Gurunath left the hill station around 1.30pm in a car and arrived at Madurai airport around 5pm. He was accompanied by two men, one of whom was BCCI counsel and former Tamil Nadu advocate general P S Raman.

    He left for Mumbai at 5.25pm, about half an hour after the police’s deadline had lapsed. “The private plane had obtained permission for departure between 5pm and 5.30pm. It left by 5.25pm,” said an airport officer.

    Sources;

    http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/MAH-MUM-exclusive-electronic-evidence-nail-csk-ceos-lies-suggest-gurunath-tipped-vindu-a-4273672-NOR.html?HT1=

    http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/1838768/report-dna-exclusive-gurunath-meiyappan-always-had-links-with-bookies-of-chennai-dubai-reveals-bcci-chief-n-srinivasan-s-son-ashwin

  • IPL Match Fixing Questions

    I have been following the unfolding of the IPl6 Match Spot fixing for the past few days and had my suspicions on the BCCI,Temam Franchisees and even ICC.

    MS Dhoni and Gurunath Meiyappan.
    Gurunath Meiyappan , CSK Boss with MS Dhoni

    I indicated this in some of my posts filed under.Cricket”

    Unfolding events seem to  confirm my suspicions that the tops Administrators,IPl Franchisees  BCCI, ICC, apart from more Players are involved in this scandal.

    1, IPL Commissioner, BCCI.

    a)Why did it take quite some time for the IPL Commissioner to comment on the scandal and that too in a very casual manner, dismissing this as an incident involving only he players being questioned when even the preliminary investigation was not on?

    His latest comment as reported in dnaindia on Gurunath’s Involvement, raises the suspicions further for the same courtesy and primness was not evident  when Sreesanth and the others were arrested?

    “The Mumbai and Delhi Police are competent authorities and let them finish the investigations before jumping to any conclusions,” Shukla replied when asked whether Srinivasan should step down from the post of BCCI President accepting moral responsibility for the scandal.

    “How can you term anyone guilty before the investigations are completed? Let the Police report be submitted and then we will be in a better position to talk further,” Shukla said.”

    b) BCCI said, in the wake of Lalit Modi affair and match fixing in international matches, that it had personnel to monitor the movement of players, support staff and others to prevent match fixing?

    What were they doing when all this drama took place?

    Were they appointed at all?

    c) Why no body from BCCI is making no sound bytes on this scandal, when they acted with alacrity in Modi’s case?

    d) Vindu Singh’s naming of an IPL  Franchisee as ‘Betting'( does he mean PWI Owner?)-what action do you propose?

    Nothing?

    2) To ICC.

    a) Why a muted Reaction to the whole affair?

    b) What was your ACU doing?

    Or IPL can not be touched by ICC because of BCCI clout?

    Or IPL is not under the purview of ICC?

    c) If you say that the charges are not proved and you can not comment and take action, how come you banned Asad Rauf, the Umpire on the basis of Times of India report stating that he was sent gifts(undelivered) by the Bookies?

    Asad Rauf, Umpire
    Asad Rauf

    d) By the same principle you should have suspended these players, Sreesanth,Ankit  and Chandila.

    3) To Franchisees.

    a) How is it that you control everything about the Players, and not about those who move with suspicious characters, especially in the same Hotel?

    Story:

    Until September 2008, BCCIregulation, Clause 6.2.4, kept in check players, administrators, managers, umpires and team officials, barring them from having direct or indirect commercial interests in any BCCI event.

    But this conflict of interest proviso was reduced to a dead letter by the cricket body, paving the way for its president N Srinivasan to own Chennai Super Kings. A five-year litigation by former BCCI chief AC Muthiah in Madras HC in 2008 — now pending before the SC after a split verdict on April 28, 2011 — shows how amendments introduced at an AGM in Mumbai were tailored for Srinivasan. These enabled him to don the conflicting roles of ‘IPL tender’s designer’ and Chennai franchisee’s bidder. Srinivasan was BCCI honorary treasurer and president of TN Cricket Association when he acquired CSK in 2008.”

    “PAKISTANI umpire Asad Rauf has been withdrawn from next month’s Champions Trophy tournament in England.

    His withdrawal has sparked suggestions he is under Indian police investigation for spot-fixing, the International Cricket Council said overnight.

    The announcement comes a week after police arrested three cricketers, including Test fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, accusing them of deliberately bowling badly in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars during the current Indian Premier League.

    The ICC said the decision was made after media reports on Wednesday “that the Mumbai police are conducting an investigation” into Rauf’s activities.

    Sources:

    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/cricket/icc-withdraws-umpire-asad-rauf-from-champions-trophy/story-e6frg7rx-1226649700060

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/spot-fixing-hits-ipl-6/news/BCCI-top-brass-feels-fixing-heat/articleshow/20237021.cms

    http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/SPO-ipl-spotfixing-live-vindus-call-details-reveal-name-of-an-ipl-franchise-owners-k-4270868-NOR.html

  • Wine,Wealth,Women,Casting Couch and IPL

    People seem to be surprised at the scandals rocking the IPL.

    Indian Premier League
    Indian Premier League (Photo credit: Ashwin John)

    First of this year is IPL match fixing.

    Bookie Sonu Yogendra Jalan alias Malad has told the crime branch that he paid Rs 10 crore to a Sri Lankan cricket player for fixing a match. He also mentioned that some Indian cricketers were also involved in match fixing, sources said.

    He along with Devendra Kothari alias Bhaiyyaji, were arrested by the city crime branch on Thursday. They are believed to be a part of a bigger international cricket betting racket, crime branch officials said.

    The property cell of Mumbai crime branch on Thursday raided a building at Lokhandwala in Kandivli and busted a major cricket betting racket. Police arrested Kothari, Jalan and two others and seized two laptops, voice recorders, computers, 25 mobile phones and cash of Rs 5.18 lakh. All the accused were booked under prevention of gambling act and were remanded to police custody. ”

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/ipl-2012/tale-spin/Bookie-claims-he-paid-Sri-Lanka-cricketer-Rs-10-crore-to-fix-IPL-match/articleshow/13277641.cms

    “CHENNAI: Adding to the IPL action this season, a TV channel on Monday claimed to have conducted a sting operation that exposes “murky deals” among players, organisers and team-owners in the lucrative tournament. The channel, India TV, alleges that many players have confessed on hidden camera that they receive much more – by way of under-the-table payment – than what is actually bid for them at IPL auctions.
    The channel also claims that spot-fixing exists in the IPL, first-class matches are fixed, and women are used to rig matches. Big names in Indian cricket and an international player, who is captain of an IPL team, are involved in fixing, alleges the channel.
    In response, the BCCI has said that stringent action will be taken if the channel’s claim is found to be true. BCCI chief N Srinivasan says: “We need to have the tape; the moment we see it, whoever be the player, we will take strict action.”
    The channel claims that cricketers in rival teams have jointly fixed the outcome of matches – a particular bowler offering deliveries easy to hit and fielders dropping catches even as the ‘partner in crime’ in the opposition goes on a scoring spree.”

    Then, Shah Rukh Khan spat.

    Again Luke Pomersbach molesting an American woman.

    “Stung by a spot-fixing TV expose on Monday and left red-faced by the Shah Rukh Khan spat on Wednesday, IPL’s week of ignominy was complete when Team Bangalore’s Aussie recruit Luke Pomersbachwas arrested in Delhi on Friday for allegedly molesting an American woman and beating up her Indian fiance after a late-night party at the team hotel to celebrate the team’s victory against Delhi the previous evening.

    The 28-year-old American had reportedly come to Delhi with her Mumbai-based fiance Sahil Peerzada for the match. She alleged that Pomersbach, 27, who had been spending time with the couple at the party, came to their room and molested her in Peerzada’s presence.

    In her FIR, she said, “During the party, he (Luke) was trying to come close to me. Later, he befriended with my fiance (Sahil) and came in our room for having drinks,”

    Siddharth Mallya’s Comment”the girl…is saying he hit her fiance…what a load of ….. s…, she was all over me and asked for me a bbm pin’

    In the earlier editions of IPL we had a Guy swindling money and asking CBI to come to England at his cost to quiz him,Richard Gere publicly misbehaving with Shilpa Shetty, a black girl sent home,Shashi Tharoor being forced to resign, Franchisee revolting against BCCI,N.Srinivasan, present Chief of BCCI facing conflict of interest,allegations of trying to organize parallel IPL abroad,drunken brawls…..what have you?

    Look at the composition of the event .

    Liquor barons,Gutka Kings,Film Stars, Political Power, vulgar exhibition f money,cheer leaders,an euphemism for …?, one should be surprised only if things are above board and decent.