Highlights
- Delhi Police has invoked provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act or MCOCA against S Sreesanth and others.
- The court has rejected bail for Sreesanth and extended his judicial custody till June 18.
- The court is yet to decide on whether to charge Sreesanth, others under MCOCA and begin trial.
- If they are charged under the stringent law, getting bail will become even more difficult.
- Investigators have established direct links between some bookies and the Mumbai underworld: Sources.
The Delhi Police has invoked provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act or MCOCA against Test cricketer
Shanthakumaram Sreesanth and 26 others arrested in the Indian Premier League (IPL)
spot-fixing case and told a trial court today that there is now evidence to prove the involvement of organised crime syndicates.
Sreesanth and other accused will stay in jail till June 18. They have put in a fresh application for bail since their plea was considered infractuous by the court. The court is, however, yet to decide on whether to charge them under MCOCA and begin trial. If they are charged under the stringent law, getting bail will become even more difficult.
Police sources allege that investigators have established direct links between some bookies arrested in the case and the Mumbai underworld and their bosses abroad, including don Dawood Ibrahim's men like Chhota Shakeel.
In court, the police said that while betting and spot-fixing in the IPL is controlled from abroad, the money is generated in India and is then funneled out.
The cricketers arrested in the case, the sources said, were being charged by association, but the cops will have to prove that they had links with organised crime syndicates before they can be tried under provisions of MCOCA.
The police have also charged 25 other people named in the case, but allegedly on the run, under MCOCA, a controversial Act enacted by the Maharashtra government in 1994. It is invoked in cases where the involvement of organised crime syndicates is suspected. .
Sreesanth and the two other cricketers were arrested on May 16 from Mumbai. They have been in jail for nearly a week. Police allege the players deliberately bowled badly in exchange for lakhs of rupees after striking deals with bookmakers.