Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI president N. Srinivasan told investigators of the Mumbai Crime Branch that Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh lured him in to betting.
Mr. Meiyappan, during interrogation, confessed to the investigators that he was told to recover his losses in betting by providing information about the team strategy, including the final line-up of players, batting order, etc.
“He [Mr. Meiyappan] initially betted on the first five matches of IPL through Mr. Singh and won money. However, in the consecutive matches, he suffered heavy losses,” said an investigator.
Mr. Meiyappan, who wanted to recover the money which he lost on betting — up to Rs. 1 crore — was advised by Mr. Singh to share information about his team.
“He was told that betting takes place on everything, including the team line-up, batting order and who will bowl the over. He passed on information to Mr. Singh and won money,” said the officer. According to investigators, Mr. Singh passed on information to other bookies, which was then used in betting.
The police have made it clear that they have not yet established whether information provided about the team strategy has been used for match fixing.
Meanwhile, as reported earlier by The Hindu , bookies showered Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf with expensive gifts, which include six pairs of shoes worth Rs. 15,000 each, eight pairs of leather shoes worth Rs. 10,000 each, 13 pairs of denims worth Rs. 25,000 each, 16 T-shirts worth Rs. 5,000 each, seven ladies’ dress material worth Rs. 30,000 each and nine leather belts worth Rs. 5000 each.
Gold ornaments and watches worth Rs. 5 lakh were earlier gifted to him, which he had taken with him. The police are in possession of bills of the watches and ornaments. According to officials, bookie Pawan Jaipur gave Rs. 1 lakh to Mr. Singh and told him to spend money on Mr. Rauf’s shopping.
