New Delhi:
Umesh Goenka, the business partner of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals' co-owner Raj Kundra, today moved a sessions court to retract his allegations that the 37-year-old NRI businessman had placed bets in the IPL.
Mr Goenka claims the statement he had given in front of a magistrate, was given under duress; he was beaten up and forced to write the statement, he alleged.
The sessions court has asked the Delhi Police's special cell to file its reply by Friday, June 14. The next hearing in the case will be on June 19.
Mr Goenka is Mr Kundra's friend of 15 years. He had made the allegations last week when he was extensively questioned along with Mr Kundra by the Delhi Police.
After the interrogation, the Delhi Police had alleged that Mr Kundra had admitted to placing bets worth Rs 1 crore in the last three years on IPL matches. Gambling on all sports except horse-racing is illegal in India.
Mr Kundra, who owns 11.7 per cent stake in the Royals along with his actor wife Shilpa Shetty, has claimed innocence, saying he hasn't "committed any wrong". He has also said that he will "unhesitatingly forfeit" his shares in the franchise if he is proved guilty.
On Monday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended Mr Kundra till investigations into allegations of betting against him in IPL are completed.
Three players from Mr Kundra's cricket team, including Test pacer S Sreesanth, were arrested on May 16 for spot-fixing. They have denied charges that they took money from bookies to deliberately bowl badly during pre-determined overs.