NEW DELHI, May 23:
The raging spot-fixing saga in the IPL turned murkier today with controversial Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf being withdrawn by the ICC from next month’s Champions Trophy in UK for his alleged role in the scandal which is growing bigger by the day.
A week after the sensational arrest of India paceman S Sreesanth and two of his Rajasthan Royals team-mates on charges of spot-fixing, Rauf’s pull-out from the June 6-23 Champions Trophy added a new twist to the fast unfolding drama.
The ICC said in a statement that Rauf has been withdrawn as he was under investigation by the Mumbai Police, thus becoming the first umpire to come under the scanner in the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
“The decision has been made after media reports on Wednesday indicated that the umpire was under investigation by Mumbai Police,” the ICC release said.
Explaining the decision, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf’s activities, we feel that it is in Asad’s best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself, that he is withdrawn from participating in the ICC Champions Trophy.”
Rauf has had a history of controversies and only last year a small-time model named Leena Kapoor had accused him of sexually exploiting her for months before refusing to marry her.
As per the duty schedule of the on-field umpires, Rauf was supposed to officiate in a warm-up match between Australia and West Indies in Cardiff on June 1.
In the tournament group league stage, he was supposed to officiate in two matches in Cardiff. The first on June 9 was between Sri Lanka and New Zealand while other was between West Indies and South Africa.
In the ongoing IPL, Rauf had on-field umpiring duty in 13 matches, the last one being in the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders in Hyderabad on May 19.
The three Rajasthan Royals players — Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan — are in police custody while actor Vindoo Randhawa, son of the late Dara Singh, has also been arrested by the Mumbai Police in connection with the case along with several other bookies, many of whom have underworld connection.
Chennai Super Kings CEO and Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan, who is the son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan, had been issued summons to be present for questioning in Mumbai between 11am and 5pm tomorrow.
But the BCCI threw its weight behind Srinivasan, saying that it was unfair to implicate his son-in-law of any wrong doing until the investigations are over.
Meanwhile, atleast three more players and one more IPL team is under the scanner for spot-fixing in the tournament, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar disclosed today.
This is in addition to S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila of Rajasthan Royals who have been arrested by the police for alleged spot-fixing in three different matches.
“We are investigating role of another team and three more players. However, I cannot disclose the names as we are in the process of gathering evidence,” Kumar told reporters here.
Asked whether police hoped to gather evidence against the players under its scanner as they would be extra cautious, the Commissioner said with a smile “may be, they have already committed the crime.”
Mumbai police has also got into the act and have seized laptop of Sreesanth, mobiles and other material. “We do not need any of the material seized by Mumbai Police so far but in case a need arises, they would be approached formally,” the Police Commissioner said.
Asked whether Mumbai and Delhi Police were at loggerheads and a turf war was underway over the issue, Kumar said, “not at all. At some stage if there is a need for any collaboration, it will be done.”
Kumar, who has investigated cases like 1993 Bombay blast case, American Center attack and subsequent deportation of Aftab Ansari from Gulf, Parliament attack case, Stock scam involving Ketan Parekh, said this case was more of a “pain and anguish for him as millions of countrymen were betrayed.”
“The cricket players (arrested) have a remorse about what they have done,” he said but added that questioning of bookies was a task similar to dealing with hardened economic offenders.
Asked whether the probe at any point was leading to any team management, Kumar said “there is nothing of that sort as of now.”
To a question about the cooperation being sought by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the police Commissioner said, “We will be sharing our findings with them that can help them in their own probe and in deciding the future of the players.”
Intensifying its probe into the IPL betting racket, Mumbai police today issued summons to Chennai Super King’s CEO Gurunath Meiyappan asking him to appear before it tomorrow for questioning after he was found to be in “frequent touch” with actor Vindoo, arrested in connection with the scandal.
A 4-member team of Mumbai police’s crime branch led by Deputy Commissioner Satyanarayana Chaudhary was despatched to Chennai today with summons and brief to question Meiyappan, son-in-law of CSK owner and BCCI chief N Srinivasan.
Meiyappan’s whereabouts were not yet known.
“A team of four officials led by DCP Satyanarayana Chaudhary was despatched to Chennai with brief to question Meiyappan. They also carried summons for Meiyappan.
“Since the team could not find anybody at his residence, a copy of the summons was pasted at his residence and another copy handed over to a manager at CSK’s office,” Joint Commissioner (crime branch) Himanshu Roy told reporters in Mumbai.
Meiyappan, team principal and CEO of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, has been asked to present himself before the crime branch in Mumbai between 11 am and 5 pm tomorrow.
Roy said Meiyappan would be confronted with Vindoo Randhawa, actor son of late wrestler-turned-actor Dara Singh, following his claims about his association with the top CSK honcho.
“Vindoo has spoken a lot and we have come across certain issues related to Meiyappan which we have to verify and corroborate and ascertain the veracity of the actor’s claims,” he said.
The whereabouts of Meiyappan today remained shrouded in mystery as some reports said he had left for Kolkata, while others claimed he had stayed back in New Delhi after witnessing the first play-off between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians on Tuesday. Yet another account indicated he was already in Mumbai.
When asked what would be the next course of action for Mumbai police if Meiyappan did not turn up for questioning, Roy said, “According to the procedure, a person who does not turn up for questioning can be declared an absconder and a prayer is made to a competent court seeking an arrest warrant for him.”
“Given his high-profile status we expect him to turn up for recording his statement. Recording Meiyappan’s statement is necessary in the light of claims made by Vindoo,” he said. (PTI)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel