Honey trap and parties are the latest dirt to tumble out the murky closet of IPL spot-fixing. If police sources are the believed the bookies have confessed to the use of female escorts and lavish parties to lure players.Even when Sreesanth was arrested on Wednesday, he was with a woman. The Police, however, have ruled out her involvement in spot fixing. Not just that. According to police, Ajit Chandila approached two more players to spot fix during matches.
"During questioning, Chandila told police that he met bookies at Country Club in Manesar (adjoining Delhi) on April 6. In the meeting, the bookies asked him to rope in more players for spot-fixing. He gave two names and the bookies asked him to bring them to a party in Jaipur where the deal could be discussed," police sources have reportedly said. However, the two cricketers refused to attend the party. Then Chandila contacted Ankeet Chavan to be part of the deal. Chavan agreed.
"The money was delivered to Chandila's residence at Faridabad in Haryana. His wife even asked and inquired about the money delivered to their house. He however, told his wife to keep quiet," an officer said. His wife told reporters on Thursday that it was a conspiracy against her husband.
The use of honey traps are nothing new. In March last year, a UK paper claimed that bookies are using Bollywood actresses to tempt cricketers. Little-known Bollywood actress Nupur Mehta hit the headlines when her name surfaced in the match-fixing allegations, and it was said that she was close to Sri Lankan cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan. But Nupur denied the charges.
'Middleman' Amit
Add to that a former RR player Amit Singh's arrest as a bookie, the things get only murkier. Amit, during his stint with Rajasthan Royals, was allegedly used by the bookies to fix deals with cricketers. "Amit Singh, a registered player with the Gujarat Cricket Association, who has also been arrested by the Delhi Police, has been suspended by the BCCI, pending inquiry," said BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.
Amit, who played for Rajasthan Royals for four years before being benched in the current season, allegedly worked as a conduit between the players and the bookies. Amit has played 20 first class games for Gujarat besides featuring in 14 List A and 30 T20 matches. His last IPL match was in May 2012.