A glimpse into the bookie-cricketer nexus

May 17, 2013 02:17 am | Updated November 17, 2021 01:59 am IST - NEW DELHI:

The Delhi Police on Thursday shared excerpts of the intercepted calls recorded between the cricketers and the bookies. During a purported conversation between off-spinner Ajit Chandila and a bookie named Amit, they arrived at an agreement and Chandila allegedly gave his consent for spot-fixing during the May 5 match with Pune Warriors in Jaipur.

“The call starts with Ajit telling Amit over phone ‘Haan Bhai, bolo [Yes Brother, say]. Let me go, I will give the [pre-determined] signal. Let the first over go…then I will see’. At this, Amit said: ‘Bowl the first over with confidence and again show the same confidence in the second over for us’. In reply, Ajit concurred: ‘I will do..’,” said a police officer.

When Amit asked what would be the signal, Ajit said he would pull his jersey up before starting the second over, during which he had to concede at least 14 runs. However, he forgot to make the coded gesture while bowling the second over which later led to an argument with the bookie.

The second conversation, quoted by the police, allegedly took place between S. Sreesanth’s aide Jiju Janardanan and a bookie named Chand prior to the May 9 match between Rajasthan Royals and King’s XI Punjab in Mohali.

Beginning the conversation, Chand allegedly asked Jiju what would be the signal. In reply Jiju said: “I have told him. He will not do anything unusual. He will tuck a towel into his trousers before bowling the second over.” Chand then told Jiju: “Brother, please ask him to give us some time before starting the over so that we can start booking.”

The third alleged conversation cited by the police was between Chandila and another Rajasthan Royals player Ankeet Chavan to finalise the deal. The transcript shows Chavan telling Chandila: “I am outside.” Chandila then asked his teammate whether he should convey his consent to the bookies. “Yes, but how much?” asked Chavan, at which Chandila said: “They are saying 12.” That followed a reply from Chavan: “No, I don’t think it is possible. It will be too much.”

Stating that he had given the bookies an assurance that the job will be done, Chandila again asked Chavan whether to give consent on his behalf. “Ok! Tell [them] yes,” was the alleged reply from Chavan. During the conversation, Chandila allegedly told Chavan that he had asked the bookies to pay up Rs. 60 lakh for the spot-fixing. “Ok...I will shake my wrist with a band as a signal,” said Chavan, adding that he would continue the conversation over text messaging.

Phone conversations purport to show Chandila mediating between Chavan and the bookies and the payment being made through him. “Ankeet gave two runs in the first over, but in the next over the batsmen took advantage of his loose deliveries that yielded 15 runs.”

After finishing the match, Chavan came out and allegedly called up the bookie asking whether they were happy with his performance.

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