Ankeet Chavan, S Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila
and two of his Rajasthan Royals teammates - Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila -- have been sent to five days in police custody by a Delhi court. The three players are facing spot-fixing charges in at least three games in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Delhi Police arrested the three bowlers and 11 bookies from different parts of Mumbai on the wee hours of Thursday. They have been charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy. They may also be booked under the stringent MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act).
The Delhi Police chief told NDTV that the mastermind was using a Dubai number and the initial tip-off that his team acted upon suggested the Mumbai underworld's involvement. He said more bookies may be arrested soon.
In a media briefing on Thursday afternoon, Delhi Police showed clippings of three matches where the players were allegedly involved in 'fixing' specific overs.
According to Commissioner of Police Neeraj Kumar, Chandila,
Sreesanth and Chavan leaked a 'pre-determined number of runs' in separate matches in return for huge sums of money from bookies. (
Read: Delhi police explains spot-fixing modus operandi)The police also read out transcripts of conversations between the cricketers and bookies and played out video clips where players gave 'indications' ahead of a 'fixed' over. While Chandila allegedly received Rs 20 lakh,
Sreesanth allegedly received Rs 40 lakh and Chavan Rs 50 lakh for
spot-fixing matches claimed the police.
The police have been tracking phone calls of gullible players since March this year.
In what has been a black day for Indian cricket, top players expressed shock and dismay at the spot-fixing incident. (
Read more)
The Rajasthan Royals franchise, which is co-owned by Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, said in statement that, "We are completely taken by surprise... We will fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation." (
Read full statement here)
Spot-fixing is the manipulation of a particular ball or wicket in a cricket tournament, which is then bet upon.
Betting on sports is illegal in India but is allegedly big business in the IPL and is run by underground syndicates in Mumbai and other parts of the country.