Women too are involved in IPL spot-fixing

Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and Amit Singh, a cricketer-turned-bookie, broke into tears when they were being grilled by Delhi police sleuths.
Women too are involved in IPL spot-fixing

Women, apart from money, was the basis for IPL spotfixing. In a startling revelation, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar on Friday said women were present with cricketer S Sreesanth and his friend Jiju when they were arrested for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing in IPL matches.

“Very much. Girls were present with Sreesanth and Jiju. We also have information about other (players),” he said.

Asked whether honey trap was used in cricket, he said it was an open secret and is part of all big sports.

Sreesanth and 13 others __ two players and 11 bookies __  were arrested on Thursday for allegedly indulging in spot-fixing during matches.

Lawyers of the accused denied the allegations.  Meanwhile, Sreesanth and the two other arrested Rajasthan Royal (RR) players have “confessed” to spot-fixing in IPL matches, the Delhi Police said, even as the role of more players whose names have cropped up during interrogation could be probed.

Six bookies were held in Tamil Nadu in connection with another IPL betting racket and one each picked up in Mumbai and Delhi.

Eleven bookies were arrested earlier along with cricketers Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila.

The role of more players whose names cropped up during interrogation of the arrested cricketers and bookies in the IPL spot-fixing scandal could be probed, police said.

Delhi Police is also likely to probe some more IPL matches in the current season even as Sreesanth, Chavan and Chandila along with 11 other arrested bookies were subjected to interrogation by its Special Cell.  It has also emerged that the arrested bookies tried to lure three players, including two foreigners, with the help of Chandila, to be part of the spot-fixing racket.

The players __  Brad Hogg, Kevin Cooper and Siddharth Trivedi, however, spurned their invite to join a party at Jaipur for clinching the deal, the sources said.

Sources said Sreesanth, Chavan and Amit Singh, a cricketer-turned-bookie, broke into tears when they were being grilled by the police sleuths.

From the investigations so far since the arrests on Thursday, Chandila is emerging as the main accused among the three cricketers while Chandresh Patel is believed to be the key link among the bookies.

As investigators in Delhi went to the bottom of the spot-fixing scandal that has sparked an outrage, Tamil Nadu police claimed to have busted a separate betting racket relating to IPL matches with the arrest of six bookies in Chennai and recovered `14 lakh in cash. The suspected mastermind was operating from Delhi, Crime Branch-CID SPs Perumal and S Rajeshwari told reporters in Chennai. The arrests followed searches at 13 locations in Chennai based on a tip-off.  Sreesanth and the other two cricketers were arrested in a post-midnight operation in Mumbai on Thursday by Delhi Police for spot-fixing IPL matches.

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