The Delhi police moved to arrest S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for alleged spot-fixing in the Pepsi IPL 2013 with evidence collected from three matches. Neeraj Kumar, the Delhi Police commissioner, said Rajasthan Royals’ matches against Pune Warriors India on May 5, against Kings XI Punjab on May 9 and against Mumbai Indians on May 15 were the tainted ones. In each game, one player adhered to pre-arranged agreements with bookies to concede a set number of runs, according to the Delhi Police.

The amounts paid to the players, for conceding a set of minimum runs in an over, ranged from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 60 lakh, police said.

“In this match, Chandila gave 14 runs in the second over of his spell,” said Kumar, referring to the Rajasthan-Pune match. “However, he (Chandila) forgot to give the predetermined signal. As a result of which, the bookies couldn’t bet. This led to demands for refunds off Chandila. Rs 20 lakh was paid as advance to him.”

Kumar said pre-arranged signals ranged from the accused players wearing a certain wrist-watch, rotating it at a certain time to lifting vests or shirts or putting towels in pockets. He said Sreesanth used a towel in the match against Punjab to signal that his second over was the one set for the spot-fix.

“Sreesanth was to put a towel in his trousers before the start of his second over, and give the bookies enough time for heavy booking,” said Kumar. “To give the bookies enough time to place heavy bets, he did some warm-up and stretching exercises before bowling his second over.”

Sreesanth conceded 13 runs in the over, bowling to Shaun Marsh and Adam Gilchrist. Even though Marsh failed to put away two short and wide balls, three fours were hit in the over.

Chavan was the bowler allegedly involved in spot-fixing in the match against Mumbai. “Here Chandila wasn’t playing but he acted as a go-between Chavan and the bookies,” said Kumar. “It was decided that 14 runs would be given (in Chavan’s over). He went for two in his first over. He was hit for a six off the first ball of his second over, then a two, then a six, and then controlled his bowling and gave away only one run. Chavan’s over was fixed for Rs 60 lakh and the advance was taken by Chandila.”

Kumar said that Jiju Janardhanan, a former club-level player, was the conduit between Sreesanth and the bookies. Some media outlets reported that Janardhanan was Sreesanth’s cousin, while others described him as a close childhood friend. Kumar confirmed that Janardhanan and Sreesanth both played for Ernakulam Club.

Sanjeev Yadav, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, showed the assembled media clips from the three matches illustrating each instance of alleged spot-fixing. Kumar said the Delhi Police’s investigations hadn’t revealed names of other cricketers, team owners or management.

Eleven bookies have been arrested so far, and Kumar indicated that more arrests were in the offing. Cases under sections 420 and 120B, which deal with cheating and criminal conspiracy, of the Indian Penal Code have been registered against the three players. Kumar, who was part of the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2000, when the investigation authority probed the match-fixing case, explained that the process of luring a player was a long-range one, and that the Delhi Police had stumbled on to the investigation by chance.

“This doesn’t happen overnight,” he said. “I was in CBI when match-fixing enquiry was done. Bookies spot vulnerable people who can be compromised. It is sheer coincidence that three people from the same team have come into our net. We can’t say this has not happened in other teams or other matches with any amount of certainty. In this investigation, only these three names have come up.

“Some of you must be wondering how it all started. It was information that we had that the Mumbai underworld was indulging in match-fixing and spot-fixing, and were contacting a number of bookies. I cannot reveal the entire underworld relation. But there are overseas connections.”

Shilpa Shetty's team Rajasthan Royals Trio Sreesanth, Chavan, Chandila Arrested for Match Fixing On 16th May

 

Delhi Police have announced that they have arrest three Rajasthan Royals players who are Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila of who are all bowlers. The players have allegedly made contact with bookmakers and promised certain events during this year’s IPL. The Commissioner of Delhi Police said while releasing details of the arrest that there is no evidence to suggest that any other players, officials or franchises have been involved. The charges these players have received are those related to fraud, criminal conspiracy and cheating.

There have been three matches identified by Delhi Police in which the spot fixing had occurred. On May 6 against the Pune Warriors, May 9 against Kings XI Punjab and against the Mumbai Indians on May 15. Neeraj Kumar, the Commissioner of Delhi Police spoke about how the spot fixing involved the trio of bowlers to concede a certain amount of runs in an over and how they had certain signals to tell bookmakers what was going on. The police currently hold many tapes of phone conversations between players and bookmakers.

The BCCI have also took action on the players enforcing an immediate suspension due to the police being involved asking the players questions.

    “As of now, the three players Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila and Sreesanth stand suspended pending inquiry. All information required to bring the persons involved to book will be collected and strictest action will be taken, if found guilty.”

    “We have been informed that three of our players have been called in for investigation on spot fixing in matches. We are completely taken by surprise. We do not have the full facts at this point and are unable to confirm anything,” Rajasthan Royals said in a statement. “We are in touch with the BCCI on this matter. We will fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation. The management at Rajasthan Royals has a zero-tolerance approach to anything that is against the spirit of the game.”

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police were tapping the phones of cricketers ever since the IPL began in April, an exercise that has netted pacer S Sreesanth and two of his Rajasthan Royals colleagues Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan today.

The three, along with seven bookies, have been arrested for spot-fixing of IPL matches. Sreesanth was arrested from his friend's place in Mumbai while the other two cricketers were arrested last night from the Trident hotel at Nariman Point for their alleged role in spot-fixing.

The arrests took place immediately after the players returned to their team hotel, following their match against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede stadium. The hosts won by 14 runs.

More arrests are likely, with 12 matches under the scanner, police sources have said. Nearly 70 phones were tapped by the special cell. The cops said Ankeet Chavan fixed the Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians match, while Sreesanth fixed the Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI match.

Police said two bookies, identified as Jiju and one who goes by the code name Jupiter, represent Dawood Ibrahim's D company and had met players in Gurgaon on May 6 and 7. They said Chandila was sent by Sreesanth to Sahara Mall in Gurgaon to meet the bookies who operated in Gujarat, as the front runners for D company. The meeting lasted about 45 ,minutes. Cops have evidence of it.

Police said Sreesanth communicated with bookies through Whatapp and Blackberry Messenger and was not in direct touch with them over phone. He had reportedly roped in Chandila and Chavan in the fixing. Police said the money trail was routed through Dubai and about 30 calls were routed through Pakistan.

Sources said about Rs 25 lakh was paid to each player, while part payment was in cash, the rest was to be paid in dollars. Police said the Rajasthan Royals' team management will be called later to be questioned on whether they were aware of any of this

Delhi police sources also said these players were under the scanner for their role in spot-fixing in some of the earlier IPL match although they did not elaborate which matches were under scrutiny.

The police are looking for two more bookies in Delhi.

The development comes as a shock for the IPL authorities who have time and again grappled with controversies and scandals ever since the league was launched in 2008.

IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla said he was awaiting details on the incident.

Rajasthan Royals CEO Raghu Iyer said that the three players were picked up by Delhi police last night and the team management was co-operating with the investigation.

"Rajasthan Royals has zero tolerance for corruption and we will take action, if charges are proved," he said. Rajasthan Royals also issued a statement in which they said that they are shocked by the development.

"We have been informed that three of our players have been called in for investigation on spot fixing in matches. We are completely taken by surprise. We do not have the full facts at this point and are unable to confirm anything.

"We are in touch with the BCCI on this matter. We will fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation. The management at Rajasthan Royals has a zero-tolerance approach to anything that is against the spirit of the game," the statement said. (With PTI inputs)