Delhi Police suspects involvement of underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim and his close aide Chhota Shakeel gang in the spot-fixing scandal. Police sources said that a crime syndicates based in foreign countries like Pakistan and Dubai are running the betting game in the cricket.
Sources said stringent provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, MCOCA have been invoked against all the 26 accused including S.Sreesanth arrested in the IPL spot fixing case. Special Cell of Delhi Police is now investigating their links with the underworld in the case, besides other charges leveled against them.
Sources added that under the provisions of the MCOCA, confessions made before an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police and above are admissible as evidence in a court of law.
A Delhi court today extended till June 18 judicial custody of Sreesanth and 22 others after Delhi Police informed the court that MCOCA provisions have been invoked against them. Out of the 26 accused, IPL player Ankeet Chavan and Sreesanth's friend Abhishek Shukla are out on bail and co-accused Ashwani Aggarwal has been sent to Mumbai on a production warrant issued by a court there.
Instead of a magisterial court, Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Jain will now hear the bail applications of the accused as MCOCA has been invoked.
In a related development, Actor Vindoo Dara Singh and Chennai Super Kings principal Gurunath Meiyappan, arrested in connection with the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal, were today granted bail by a Mumbai court.
Besides Vindoo and Meiyappan, the son-in-law of N Srinivasan who recently stepped aside as BCCI president, six bookies were also granted bail on a bond of 25,000 rupees each.
They had moved the bail applications yesterday after the metropolitan magistrate remanded them to judicial custody till June 14.
The court also asked all of them not to leave the country and report to the Crime Branch every alternate day.
Meiyappan was arrested on the night of May 25 for his alleged involvement in the IPL betting scandal.
He was in the eye of a storm after actor and TV reality show winner Vindoo, arrested on May 22 for his alleged links with bookies, admitted to having placed bets on his behalf.
