The busting of the spot fixing scam in the ongoing Indian Professional League (IPL) by special cell of Delhi Police on Thursday had such a powerful narrative that it even drowned the Bollywood script of film star Sanjay Dutt surrendering before the TADA court.
The arrest of three cricketers belonging to Rajasthan Royals – S Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila – by a team of the special cell on Thursday morning from Mumbai and 11 bookies from different states including Maharashtra and Gujarat has once again put the focus back on the charge that the inter-city franchise tournament was corrupting the game through the high stake of money involved.
The gravity of the crime could be gauged from the fact Delhi Police got the first tip-off in the matter in mid-March, more than a month before IPL 6 rolled out. According to sources, the total money at stake in IPL fixing could be as high as Rs 400000 Crore.
This is not the first time that such scandal has hit IPL or Indian cricket. Incidentally Commissioner of Delhi Police Neeraj Kumar, who closely monitored the Thursday operation, was part of the enquiry when match fixing scandal first hit Indian cricket way back in the 1990s. Even last year a sting operation by a news channel had revealed involvement of five players in the scandal.
Kumar at the press briefing lucidly explained the infiltration of the gentleman’s game by the agents of Mumbai underworld, who have their mentors sitting abroad. Though Kumar did not mention name of Dawood Ibrahim but the tentacles of the fugitive don’s evil empire are known to be well-entrenched across the continents. The Commissioner claimed that the numbers they monitored were registered in Dubai but did not rule out the operation being directed from somewhere else.
Delhi Police chief has not ruled out ‘the distinct possibility of invoking provisions of MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act).’ Since the matter relates to huge sums of money – Rs 1.40 crore alone was paid to the three players – and its illegal laundering across states and continents, the Commissioner said help of Income Tax department, Enforcement Directorate and other such agencies would also be sought.
The arrest of three cricketers belonging to Rajasthan Royals – S Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila – by a team of the special cell on Thursday morning from Mumbai and 11 bookies from different states including Maharashtra and Gujarat has once again put the focus back on the charge that the inter-city franchise tournament was corrupting the game through the high stake of money involved.
The gravity of the crime could be gauged from the fact Delhi Police got the first tip-off in the matter in mid-March, more than a month before IPL 6 rolled out. According to sources, the total money at stake in IPL fixing could be as high as Rs 400000 Crore.
This is not the first time that such scandal has hit IPL or Indian cricket. Incidentally Commissioner of Delhi Police Neeraj Kumar, who closely monitored the Thursday operation, was part of the enquiry when match fixing scandal first hit Indian cricket way back in the 1990s. Even last year a sting operation by a news channel had revealed involvement of five players in the scandal.
Kumar at the press briefing lucidly explained the infiltration of the gentleman’s game by the agents of Mumbai underworld, who have their mentors sitting abroad. Though Kumar did not mention name of Dawood Ibrahim but the tentacles of the fugitive don’s evil empire are known to be well-entrenched across the continents. The Commissioner claimed that the numbers they monitored were registered in Dubai but did not rule out the operation being directed from somewhere else.
Delhi Police chief has not ruled out ‘the distinct possibility of invoking provisions of MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act).’ Since the matter relates to huge sums of money – Rs 1.40 crore alone was paid to the three players – and its illegal laundering across states and continents, the Commissioner said help of Income Tax department, Enforcement Directorate and other such agencies would also be sought.