New Delhi:
Little is publicly known about Vikram Aggarwal, the Chennai hotelier police want to question over his suspected involvement in the Indian Premier League or IPL betting scam.
Overnight, he has made national headlines after police claimed that he was the person who introduced small-time actor Vindoo Dara Singh to
Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president
N Srinivasan. Both the actor and Mr Meiyappan have been arrested for their alleged role in betting on IPL games.
What's known is that Mr Aggarwal runs a hotel business. He heads VVA Hotels Private Limited, which owns two franchise properties in Chennai - the swank 129-room business hotel Fortune Select Palms and the five-star Hotel Radisson Blu. The Fortune property is located along the high-profile IT corridor in suburban Chennai and is a member of the ITC Hotel Group.
Interestingly, sources in Chennai's hotel industry say they do not know much about Mr Aggarwal. "Originally he was in the construction business and then he became a hotelier," one of them, who did not want to be identified, told IANS.
Police say that before he made his way into the hotel industry via real estate dealings, Mr Aggarwal dabbled in the textile business and that his fortunes have risen phenomenally. They claim that he is active in betting circles and goes by the name Victor.
Police say that Mr Aggarwal came under the scanner after they started investigating why over a 100 calls were placed to a bookie from his wife's phone. They allege that Mr Aggarwal used this phone connection to get in touch with bookies.
Mr Aggarwal was summoned by the Tamil Nadu Police for questioning on Thursday but he failed to show up. His plea for anticipatory bail was meanwhile turned down by the Madras High Court. Thirteen teams of the Tamil Nadu Police are now on the lookout for Mr Aggarwal.