The Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police investigating the IPL betting scandal has found nothing incriminating against Chennai Super King’s Gurunath Meiyappan, agency sources said on Monday.
Mr. Meiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI president N. Srinivasan, was summoned and interrogated at the CBCID headquarters here following inputs of his alleged links with some punters. However, investigators found no material evidence to prove his direct involvement in betting or nexus with punters.
The allegation was that Mr. Meiyappan, being the team principal of CSK, had shared the team strategies, pitch conditions and other strategic information with his friend and hotelier Vikram Agarwal, the sources said.
Based on the interrogation of city-based Mr. Agarwal, investigators wrote to the Mumbai Crime Branch seeking access to the statements given by Mr. Meiyappan there. The CBCID had arrested Mr. Agarwal on charges of allowing a punter to operate from his hotel.
“Meiyappan was interrogated for a couple of days in connection with the betting scandal. As of now, nothing concrete has come out to prove his involvement with the bookies. Since there were frequent telephonic conversations between him and the hotelier, we issued summons to examine him,” a CBCID official told The Hindu .
Charge sheet soon
With investigation nearing completion, the CBCID is preparing to file a charge sheet against those arrested or involved in the case. “Besides the hotelier and punters, we are also naming a prominent realtor in the charge sheet. Though many were questioned based on information or circumstances, we are strictly going by available and admissible evidence,” he said.
Asked if the Mumbai Crime Branch had shared any intelligence input or evidence, the official said the case there was different. “The outcome of the investigation in the betting scandal in Tamil Nadu neither has any relevance with Mumbai case nor has any bearing on it.”
Betting in IPL matches hit the headlines after the Delhi Police arrested pacer S. Sreesanth and two others of the Rajasthan Royals team on charges of spot fixing.
