NEW DELHI: In a swift operation, the special cell of the Delhi police has arrested Kerala pacer S Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals’ teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan along with seven bookies during Delhi, Mumbai and Ahemedabad raids on the charges of spot-fixing in the ongoing Indian Premier
Agency reports said the police had arrested seven bookies in Mumbai and three in Delhi in connection with the same case. They are looking for two more in Delhi.
The arrests have reportedly been made on Wednesday night.
The special cell picked up Sreesanth from his friend’s place in Mumbai while the other two cricketers were arrested on Wednesday night from the team hotel at Nariman Point.
The arrest took place immediately after the players returned to their hotel, following their match against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede stadium. The hosts won by 14 runs.
The Delhi police source said that these players had been under the scanner for their role in spot-fixing since earlier IPL matches. However, sources didn’t specify which matches were under scrutiny.
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 about the incident. Rajasthan Royals CEO Raghu Iyer said the three players had been picked up by Delhi police last night and the team management was co-operating with the investigation.
Rajasthan Royals officials said, “We have been informed that three of our players have been called in for investigation on spot-fixing. 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.”
Spot-fixing refers to an illegal activity within sport where a specific part of a game is fixed.
(Agencies/Hindustan Times)
