New Delhi:
The Delhi Police today told a trial court that they have credible evidence that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his associate Chhota Shakeel control the alleged betting and spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League. They have named Dawood and Shakeel as co-accused in the case and have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act or MCOCA against the underworld bosses and against 26 people arrested in the spot-fixing scandal, including Test cricketer S Sreesanth.
Following are the latest developments in the case:
The police claimed in court that Dawood Ibrahim's syndicate controls gambling in India through hawala channels. The money, the public prosecutor alleged, is generated in India and is then funneled out.
Police sources allege that investigators have established direct links between some of the big bookies arrested in the case and the underworld bosses, through hundreds of phone calls intercepted as part of the investigations. Phone calls have also been traced to an unidentified person based in Pakistan, the police say.
The cops have sought to charge the cricketers arrested in the case - Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals teammates Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila - under MCOCA by association; they are trying to establish whether these players had any direct contact with the underworld.
The police will have to prove that they had links with organised crime syndicates before they can be tried under provisions of MCOCA, a controversial Act enacted by the Maharashtra government in 1994, which is invoked in cases where the involvement of organised crime syndicates is suspected.
If Sreesanth and the others are charged under MCOCA, getting bail will become even more difficult. Conviction under MCOCA could mean five years in jail. The court is, however, yet to decide on whether they will be charged under the stringent law or not.
After the police invoked MCOCA, the trial court today asked Sreesanth and the others to file fresh bail applications which will be heard on Friday next. The court has meanwhile extended their stay in jail till June 18. Sreesanth has been at Delhi's Tihar Jail for about a week now.
In Mumbai, Gurunath Meiyappan and small-time actor Vindu Dara Singh have been granted bail. Mr Meiyappan is the son-in-law of N Srinivasan, who has stepped aside as BCCI chief, while the latter's alleged role in IPL betting is being investigated. Vindu was arrested for allegedly serving as a go-between for Mr Meiyappan and bookies.
Besides Mr Singh and Mr Meiyappan, six bookies, including Ramesh Vyas, too were granted bail by the Mumbai court. All of them have been asked not leave the country and to report to the Crime Branch every alternate day.
Mr Meiyappan was arrested on May 24 in Chennai by the Mumbai Police, eight days after Sreesanth and his two teammates were arrested from Mumbai by the Delhi Police. All the accused have denied any wrongdoing.
The police allege the players deliberately bowled badly in exchange for lakhs of rupees after striking deals with bookmakers.
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