The call records of Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh — arrested here on Tuesday in connection with ongoing investigations into the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal — show that he was in frequent touch with Ramesh Vyas, a bookie arrested earlier by the Mumbai police, and Gurunath Meiyappan, Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings, police officials said.
Mr. Meiyappan is the son-in-law of CSK owner and president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) N. Srinivasan.
According to Mumbai police sources, Mr. Singh has told them that he shares ‘very good’ relations with Mr. Meiyappan. “We have found frequent calls made to Ramesh Vyas and a certain number from Chennai, which has been traced to Meiyappan,” said an investigating officer on condition of anonymity.
The police are investigating whether the frequent, “alternate” calls made to the two were related to the betting racket of which Mr. Singh was a part. Mumbai police officials would not confirm if Meiyappan will be called for interrogation. A senior officer told The Hindu that as of now no decision has been taken but that the police will seek his formal statement in the matter.
Neither Mr. Meiyappan nor Mr. Srinivasan was available for comment.
The police said Mr. Singh has confessed to being in the betting racket for the past 7 to 8 years and to earning more than Rs 17 lakh in this season of the IPL. “He has told us that betting took place on all the matches in this IPL and in the previous edition. The betting also took place on matches in the cricket world cup,” said an officer.
Mr. Singh’s close relations with bookies also became clear after he allegedly helped two bookies, Sanjay Jaipur and Pawan Jaipur escape to Dubai after the scandal broke.
“He booked hotel rooms for them and arranged transportation on May 17. He even arranged transportation for them to the airport. We have seized three mobile phones from the actor’s residence which belong to Pawan Jaipur,” said an officer.
Meanwhile, a local court here has sent six bookies arrested earlier by the Mumbai police, Ramesh Vyas, Pandurang Kadam, Ashok Vyas, Neeraj Shah, Pravin Behra, and Pankaj Shah Alias Lotus, to judicial custody till June 5.
