Mumbai:
Sources in the Mumbai Police today claimed that Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of BCCI chief N Srinivasan, placed large bets through small-time actor Vindoo Dara Singh. Mr Meiyappan, who was arrested late on Friday night by the Mumbai Police, and has been charged with betting on games in the current edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has been sent to police custody till May 29. Today, the BCCI said that he has been suspended from any association with cricket. A Mumbai Police team is in Chennai to conduct searches at Mr Meiyappan's residence today.
Here are the 10 big developments in the case:
Mr Srinivasan insists that he has done no wrong andthat he "cannot be be bulldozed into resigning". He termed theclamour for his resignation as "orchestrated pressure". He alsoclaimed "a lot of vested interests do not want me in the BCCI".
At a dinner hosted by Bengal state unit chief Jagmohan Dalmiya in Kolkata yesterday, Mr Srinivasan is said to have convinced 17 members from BCCI's various state units to let him continue. Sources say that he proposed a life-ban for his son-in-law if he was found guilty.
The BCCI chief said he had no knowledge about Mr Meiyappan's bettingactivities and that he hardly watches T20 games.
"You can be sure BCCI will act with same alacrity aswith Sreesanth... same rules apply. Steps will be taken objectively,fairly," he replied when asked how the BCCI would deal with hisson-in-law.
Gurunath Meiyappan has been charged with gambling, cheating andconspiracy. Public Prosecutor Wajid Shaikh told NDTV that there is only proof of betting against Mr Meiyappan. He was named by Vindoo Dara Singh, who was arrestedearlier this week for his alleged links to bookies involved in spot-fixing IPLgames.
Vindoo Dara Singh had reportedly told his interrogators thathe bet on games on Mr Meiyappan's behalf, sources say. The actor has alsoreportedly also said that Mr Meiyappan lost Rs. 1 crore in betting.
Mumbai Police claims that Mr Meiyappan bet on Chennai SuperKings games in the ongoing IPL series. Sources claim that during hisquestioning, Mr Meiyappan admitted to having placed bets, but said he did so atthe insistence of Vindoo.
Mr Srinivasan's India Cements, which owns Chennai Superkings, has distanced itself from Mr Meiyappan and claimed in a statement thathe is "neither the Owner, nor CEO/Team Principal of Chennai SuperKings." The statement added that he is "only one of the Members(Honorary) of the Management Team of Chennai Super Kings."
Till Friday evening, Gurunath's Twitter account describedhim as 'Team Principal, Chennai Super Kings, Managing Director, AVM Productionsand Entertainment, AVM Studios, AVM Constructions'. This was changed to'Managing Director, AVM Productions and Entertainment, AVM Studios, AVMConstructions' around 5.30pm on Friday soon after India Cements released theirstatement.
Former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi has said the BCCI chiefmust resign immediately. "Srinivasan should immediately resign, if he(does) not resign, he should be thrown out immediately...I am very clear aboutthe fact that if we don't take the poison out of the system, the poison is onlygoing to slowly grow and this will be the ruining of a beautiful game calledcricket," he said speaking to NDTV. (Watch)
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