NEW DELHI (AP) – The chief executive of the Chennai Super Kings is likely to be questioned by police in Mumbai later Friday as part of investigations into spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League.
Gurunath Meiyappan, who is the son-in-law of Board of Control for Cricket in India president Narainswamy Srinivasan, is reported to have been in touch with Bollywood actor Vindoo Randhawa who is alleged to be close to bookmakers at the center of an ongoing probe.
“We’ve affixed one summons on the door of Meiyappa’s residence (in Chennai),” Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police Himanshu Roy told reporters. “A second summons was served at the CSK (IPL team) office to a manager who accepted it. Legally the summons has now been served.”
Test cricketer Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested last week for allegedly manipulating certain parts of IPL games for their Rajasthan Royals team and receiving money from bookmakers in return.
Sreesanth has denied his involvement in spot-fixing but charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust have been brought against the three for conceding a fixed minimum number of runs per over in exchange for up to 6 million rupees ($110,000) from bookmakers for every over.
Several bookmakershave been arrested across the country over the past week along with their associates, which include three domestic-level cricketers and Randhawa, who has been shown by television channels as watching an IPL game in the company of the wife of India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The BCCI said Friday it is keen to see a law to curb spot-fixing.
“The strongest possible law for match-fixing is needed as quickly as possible,” IPL Commissioner and BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla told reporters in New Delhi. “The absence of a proper law is being taken advantage of. We’ve met the law minister and will also be meeting the sports minister in this regard.”
It is not for the first time that spot-fixing has been reported in India.
Last year, little-known allrounder T.P. Sudhindra was handed a life ban after he was shown in a sting operation by India TV as agreeing to bowl a no-ball at a predetermined time in a local T20 game in the central Indian city of Indore.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
