Chennai Super Kings boss caught in IPL spot-fixing dragnet
23 May 2013
As the sixth season of Indian Premier League cricket approaches its climax, the probe into fixing of games is also gathering momentum by the day. Today, a team of Mumbai Police landed in Chennai to question the chief executive of the Chennai Super Kings side, Gurunath Meiyappan – who is the son-in-law of team owner and chief of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), N Srinivasan.
Even as his team is through to the finals, Meiyappan's name figures prominently in the interrogation of arrested Bollywood B-list actor Vindoo Dara Singh, son of the late wrestler-actor Dara Singh.
Chennai Police have confirmed the presence of Mumbai Crime Branch personnel in the city in connection with the investigation of the spot-fixing case.
Delhi Police have reportedly asked their Mumbai counterparts to share details of any interrogations they carry out. Although they can't say so officially, the Delhi Crime Branch is none too happy about the Mumbai cops muscling in on a case that they broke.
Meiyappan's questioning would revolve around his links with Vindoo; the police suspect that he may have been passing inside information about matches or even be directly involved in the fixing racket.
''Based on the outcome of the questioning, we will decide whether his actions fall under the domain of impropriety or invite legal action,'' a police officer is reported to have said. Vindoo's phone call records show that he has been in touch with the Chennai Super Kings boss.
Meanwhile, both the Kolkata and Madhya Pradesh police have arrested a number of alleged bookies as many as nine in Kolkata and four in MP. A large number of mobile phones have been seized from them.
The entire sordid episode raises questions about the role of the money-grubbing BCCI, with its single-minded focus on milking to death the one game that Indians are united in loving.
