In an interview to NDTV’s Barkha Dutt, actor Preity Zinta says there are no benami holdings or proxy owners in her IPL team, Kings XI. She also says that IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi should be given a fair trial (he stands accused of financial crimes) and asserts “of course IPL will survive this.”
Here’s the full transcript of the interview:
NDTV: For the past ten days the headlines of this country has been dominated by what has been called as the IPL gate, but now many people are asking how this thing is going to end. Is this is all about cleaning up the governance of cricket? Is that what’s going to happen or is political shadow boxing of a kind overtaking the entire controversy? What about the morale of the owners, where do they stand? And what will happen to Lalit Modi and the game of cricket and brand of IPL? Joining us now in her first interview since this controversy erupted is co-owner of Kings XI Punjab and well known actor and an entrepreneur Preity Zinta. Preity, It must be terribly disturbing for people like yourselves to watch what’s happening to a brand that was once the most glamorous coveted brand in this country…
Two Bookies hold stakes in Sri Lanka Premier League.
29 May 2013 01:00,
Mumbai, May 29, 2013 | UPDATED 12:38 IST There could be a angle to the Indian Premier League (IPL) , Mumbai Police sources indicated on Wednesday. According to crime branch sources, arrested actor Vindu Dara Singh has told the investigators that two bookies, named Sanjay and Pawan, were the “benami” owners of one of the franchises in the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), a Twenty-20 tournament modelled on the lines of the IPL. Talking to Headlines Today over phone, former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga said the government must act to clear the suspicion involving the SLPL. He said he had forewarned about corruption when the SLPL was in the planning stage.
The seized Laptop of the IPL spot fixer Sreesanth, contains about 45 semi nude , nude pictures of Models and diary in Malayalam.
The Police believe the Diary may give out more clues.
Story:
Several semi-nude and nude pictures of models have been found from tainted bowler S. Sreesanth’s laptop seized by Mumbai Police crime branch on Friday from room no 1213 of Hotel Sofitel in Mumbai.
Crime Branch sources said, the nude pictures were of lesser known models who had attended five to six parties.
There were 45 photographs in Sreesanth’s laptop, some of which were in “compromising positions”, souces said.
There were some pictures of the bowler with some women.
Giving details of the movements of Sreesanth and his cohort Jiju Janardanan, the hotel rooms no 1213 and 1214 of Hotel Sofitel were booked from Kerala on May 13, by Tamarind Tours and Travels. Police said, neither the IPL management nor the Rajasthan Royals were apprised of this hotel booking.
Sreesanth stayed in Room 1213, while Jiju stayed in the adjacent Room 1214. Meanwhile, Sreesanth also went to a hotel in Juhu and on May 15 went to ORG club on Khar Link Road, where he spent several hours, sources said.
From Room 1213 (Sreesanth’s), crime branch recovered three diaries for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013, in which the bowler had made entries both in English and Malayalam, mentioning his day-to-day routine. The diaries also have details of money taken for different activities, including modelling.
The diaries have names of two bookies from Kerala, and six bookies from Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur alongwith their phone numbers, sources said.
At several points, Sreesanth has written SIR, Boss, BIGI with the names of bookies.
One laptop, one iPad, two cellphone chargers and Rs 75,000 cash were found from Sreesanth’s room, officials said.
Daily Bhaskar has published a story on how the entire operation was carried out in terms of Money Distribution and process.
Here is the report.
Srinivasan says there is nothing for him to resign!
Money Trail of IPL Match Fixings trail.
That a certain Dawood Ibrahim and his kin control the cricket betting network is an open secret. What, however, is surprising, even admirable, is the deftness and corporate-style dexterity with which the syndicate functions…
The well-connected Tiku Mandi got in touch with a host of Indian bookies. Jupiter, Baburao Yadav, Jiju Janardhan and Amit Singh are the ones contacted. Janardhan got in touch with S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila who ‘fix’ spots in various games.
Vindu- Guru link
Where does small time actor –celebrity Vindu Dara Singh come into picture? Well Ramesh Vyas, the middleman between Jr Kolkat and Tiku Mandi, got in touch with Vindu, who in turn contacted Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan. Mumbai Police maintains that Vindu and Guru spoke to each other over 130 times. Vindu’s call records further reveal he was in “constant touch” with the bookies. Gurunath reportedly placed bets on 9 IPL games, before deciding to trade team secrets to Vindu in lieu of about Rs. 1 crore that he had lost in betting..
It has been reported that Inspector Badrish Dutt who had stumbled onto to the conversations on IPL Match fixing, while listening to the tapped conversations to bust a Crime.
Inspector Badrish Dutt, who filed First FIR In IPL Match fixing
Wealth, Wine,Women….
Can Murder be far behind?
This aspect needs to be investigated, though this news is not getting the coverage it should have.
Story:
The sordid spot-fixing scandal could have been unraveled on May 11 itself had Inspector Badrish Dutt not died under mysterious circumstances on the intervening night of May 10 and 11. The raid was then aborted owing to the sad demise of Dutt, who was to lead the Special Cell team to Mumbai to carry out the operation.
Whether he was murdered or he committed suicide is mired in mystery even now.
It was Inspector Badrish Dutt, who intercepted a conversation between bookies and unidentified players about a specially devised ‘sign language’ meant for spot-fixing a month ago. An ace interceptor who had developed unmatched expertise in tracking and listening to conversations, Dutt brought it to the knowledge of his immediate superiors in the Special Cell.
It was a chance interception during an investigation pertaining to an organised crime. The people involved in the conversation were arguing over some payment. It later dawned on Dutt that it was in fact an important conversation involving spot-fixing in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) session. This was brought to the notice of Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, himself a cricket aficionado, who gave the go-ahead and the operation was launched to bring the culprits to justice.
Interestingly, the match fixing scandal involving South African Captain Hansie Cronje too was busted after Inspector Ishwar Singh posted with the Crime Branch tapped a conversation between an underworld operative hiding in a Gulf country and Kishan Kumar, the younger brother of T-Series owner late Gulshan Kumar. Inspector Dutt who was tasked to carry out arrests died before he could complete the task.
When asked whether there was any link behind the death of Inspector Dutt since he was the first Investigating Officer of the spot-fixing scandal, Delhi Police Commissioner denied the same. He said there was no connection between the two cases. However, sources said that there were many reasons to link Mumbai Underworld behind the shocking death of Dutt who was actively pursuing the leads till he died on the intervening night of May 10 and 11. He was given the official permission just a day before by the Delhi Police Commissioner to go ahead with the operation.
He was asked to lead the Special Cell team to Mumbai that was supposed to leave on the early hours of May 11. His colleagues were frantically trying to get in touch with him but he did not answer the calls. Worried over this strange happening, Dutt’s colleagues went to the second floor flat in Ardee City of Gurgaon’s Sector -52, where they found his and Geeta Sharma’s bodies.:
Contents of The FIR filed by Inspector Badrish Dutt on 9 May, 2013.
Contents of the FIR are as follows;
“Secret Information was received in the third week of April 2013 that certain members of the underworld are involved in some sort of fixing of ongoing cricket matches of Indian Premium League with active participation of some unidentified conduits based in Delhi.
“It was also revealed that these conducts are contacting the cricket players who have been recently engaged by IPL sponsors at very high prices for the respective teams with a view to stage manage some matches for making windfall gains through several bookies, who facilitate illegal gambling in the sport.
“It had also been informed that players who will be ‘fixed’ will be paid huge amount to underperform during pre decided bowling over’s/spells. For these over(s) / spells huge amounts of money will be put on stake by bookies.
“Such acts will amount in cheating innocent and sports loving people of their hard earned money used in purchasing tickets.
“Large number of people watches the matches; not only in stadiums, purchasing costly tickets, but also across the globe through televisions and internet expecting it to be a fair play. The telecast of matches involve large sum of money through advertisements. As a result of such malpractices.
“ The innocent and sports loving people end up getting robbed of their precious time and money.
“In order to at upon this information technical and manual surveillance was deployed and so far.
“ It has come to my notice that suspects (match fixers and bookies) from Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab etc. and some players participating in this Indian Premier League tournament have joined together to indulge in spot and match fixing.
“The above said group decides before a math as to which portion of the match will be ‘fixed’. Pre-decided signals will be given by the players to the bookies that will clearly visible in the stadium or on the television for initiating heavy betting.
“In this process, the ‘fixed’ player would get a huge amount as illegal gratification over and above his contractual valuealready committed to him by his franchisee.
These kinds of malpractice by the group cheat innocent cricket fans of their hard earned money.
“Under these circumstances a case under section 120B/420 IPC is made out. Kindly register a case and hand over the investigation to the undersigned. Date and time of occurrence: Since April 2013, place of Occurrence: Delhi and other parts of India. Date and time of handing Rukka: 09.05.2013 at 12.05 PM Sd/- English (Inspector Badrish Dutt) D-1/1067-PIS No. 16910014, NDR/Spl. Cell, Lodhi Colony. Sd/- English Insp. Pawan Kumar, Special Cell/NDR. On receipt of the complaint the FIR has been registered and the copy of the same will be sent to I.O. and senior officer for necessary action by dak. By / DO.”
CCTV Footage shows the bookies and Cricketers in The Hotel .
Cricketers will find it impossible to deny this.
What did Sreesanth do by way of Gifts?
IPL6 Match Fixers
The night following S Sreesanth‘s Rs 40-lakh towel-change over on May 9 at the Mohali match was one of gifts, girls and glee.
The CCTV footage, obtained by TOI exclusively, from a five-star hotel in Chandigarh‘s Sector 35 where Rajasthan Royals team stayed, shows, according to Punjab Police, the Kerala pacer, bookie Jiju Janardan and the other tainted player Ankeet Chavan meeting, exchanging gift packets and engaging in a talkfest with girls in the third floor foyer just outside their rooms.
Their second-by-second action stretching from 10pm to 6am was captured by six CCTV cameras. The evening for the trio began three hours after the victorious Rajasthan Royals team returned to the team hotel at 7.30pm, reveals the footage acquired by Delhi and Punjab police.
Even as other players retired to their rooms, Chavan, holding a gift bag, along with Jiju knocked at Sreesanth’s room at 10.15pm. The tainted pacer opened the door and started jauntily walking around in his training gear.
As Jiju and Sreesanth continue talking, the footage shows a Delhi policeman eavesdropping. Nearly 10 minutes after taking the packet from Chavan, Jiju, Sreesanth and Chavan meet a 20-something woman in a black tiered lace dress in the foyer.
The woman stays outside Sreesanth’s room until she and other players are joined by two more men as Sreesanth goes into his room to change, the footage shows. At 10:55pm, Chavan, Sreesanth and the woman are seen leaving the hotel. After four hours, Sreesanth is again spotted with a different woman, attired in a white-and-black party dress at 2:19am.
They are trailed by Chavan, leading into the pacer’s room where they stay for nearly an hour, shows the footage. At 3.55am, Sreesanth returns to the foyer. He tumbles, nearly falls and then glides along the wall until he’s helped by Chavan. The two disappear from the foyer for two hours. Sreesanth returns to the foyer alone with a packet in his hand at 5:35am.
The List of those involved in IPL 6 Match Fixing.( as on 26 may 2013)
1. S Sreesanth
First among those arrested from Mumbai, currently under Delhi police custody and is being interrogated. Rajasthan Royals has suspended his contract. Accused of spot fixing.
2. Ajit Chandila
Rajasthan Royals player, whose contract has also been suspended. Chandila was also arrested on May 15 night. So far, rs 20 lakh cash has been found from a cricket kit bag at his aunt’s place. He too has been charged of spot fixing in IPL6.
3. Ankeet Chavan
Rajasthan Royals player from Maharashtra. He was also arrested with Sreesanth and Chandila. Says he made a mistake. His contract has also been suspended by RR.
4. Jiju Janardhan
Close friend of Sreesanth, Jiju is a former Kerala player, and had fell headlong into cricket betting. Said to be the brain behind Sreesanth’s downfall.
5. Amit Singh
A former Rajasthan Royals player and former Ranji player from Gujarat . BCCI has suspended him pending inquiry. He was also linked to the bookies.
6. Ramesh Vyas
A Mumbai bookie arrested by Mumbai police crime branch. Said to have links with Sunil Dubai who hs connections with dons Dawood Ibraham and Anees Ibrahim.
Late actor and wrestler Dara Singh’s son, Vindoo Dara Singh was arrested by Mumbai Police crime branch for having links with certain bookies. He was named by bookie Ramesh Vyas during interrogation.
8. The other accused bookies are
Deepak Kumar (Arrested)
Rakesh (Arrested)
Alpeshkumar Bhagwandas Patel
Prem Ramchandra Taneja
Ashok Vyas
Pandurang Kadam
Pravin Behra
Niraj Shah
Pankaj Shah along with Chandresh Patel (arrested) from Mumbai and Manan (Arrested) who operates from Ahmedabad.
All these are currently being interrogated by the Mumbai Police crime branch.
9. Baburao Yadav
Another former Ranji player arrested for being involved in the spot fixing scandal. He is said to have introduced bookie Sunil Bhatia to Chandila.
10. Manish Guddewar
A 32-year-old former Ranji player from Vidarbh, Manish Guddewar is said to have known Chandila and got him in touch with bookies. He is said to have played at the Indian Gymkhana Club at Nagpur with Baburao Yadav.
You must be logged in to post a comment.