Jack the punter continues to spill the beans in police custody and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Gurunath Meiyappan is certainly in the soup.
While MiD DAY had yesterday revealed the frequent communication that took place between Vindu Dara Singh and the BCCI chief's son-in-law ('35 phone calls in one day between Vindu, CSK CEO'), now the small-time actor has acknowledged that he placed bets on behalf of Meiyappan.
Vindu, who operated under the pseudonym Jack in betting circles, has told Crime Branch that he used to get tip-offs from bookies about match-fixing and many powerful people would invest money through him into cricket betting.
`He has told us that he lost Meiyappan's money in betting, but we want to verify the details. We have summoned the CSK CEO to appear in our office by 5 pm on Friday, but he has asked for time till Monday,` said a Crime Branch source.
Sources say preliminary suspicions are that Meiyappan only placed wagers and did not fix matches, but added that it's too early to reach any conclusion.
Cops added that Vindu has accepted he was in touch with three players from IPL. Officials said they don't want to summon the cricketers in a hurry and will first question Meiyappan, who has been delivered summons at his home in Chennai.
`A team of Mumbai Crime Branch went to Chennai to hand over the summons, but Meiyappan was not present at home. We then delivered the copy to his family members. We have asked Meiyappan to be in our office by 5 pm on Friday for questioning,` said another source from Crime Branch.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has also sent a team to the Crime Branch office in Crawford Market to collect inputs against cricketers and umpire Asad Rauf, whose name has also cropped up in the spot-fixing controversy.
IPL is den of gambling: Yashwant Sinha
The IPL is a den of gambling, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said and pressed for a detailed inquiry into the spot-fixing in the tournament.
`IPL is nothing but a den of gambling. There is less cricket and more of gambling in the IPL. The spot- fixing or match fixing does not appear to be confined to a few players or bookies. It appears to be a widespread net,` Sinha said. `What is required is a detailed inquiry into who all are involved in match fixing
. Action should be taken under the law against all these people ... however, mighty or glamorous they may be. They must be brought to book and they should be brought to justice,` added Sinha.