The Special Cell sleuths of Delhi Police claimed to have recovered `5.5 lakh from the Lokhandwala residence of Sreesanth's friend Abhishek Shukla, who allegedly sanitised Sreesanth and bookie Jiju's hotel room after their arrest on May 16.
Shukla was picked by special cell on Tuesday, and during questioning admitted of hiding money Sreesanth and Jiju received from bookies to fix the spots in IPL matches. They have also recovered four shopping bills of Sreesanth. Sources said Sreesanth spent `7.33 lakh on his shopping spree using proceeds of spot fixing. He made three purchases in Jaipur — in his first shopping of `1.70 lakh, he paid `1 lakh through credit card and 70 thousand in cash. In another shopping, he spent `2 lakh through credit card and `10 thousand in cash.
In his third shopping at Jaipur, Sreesanth paid `1 lakh using credit card and 58 thousand in cash. Delhi Police had earlier recovered shopping bill worth `1.95 lakh from Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the fourth set of bookies arrested by Delhi Police's special cell revealed the names of three national level players they befriended during IPL 5th & IPL 6th season. A senior official said sleuths are looking for evidence to establish whether these players passed on information to a betting syndicate or received money to fix spots in the IPL.
“The interrogation revealed they gained access through a common friend, who is also a cricketer and frequented team hotels. He was also on good terms with another bookie," official said. A bookie also told the interrogators about intimate relationship with a national-level player, which started during fifth season of IPL and they used to meet in a number of parties in Delhi and Mumbai.