The Crime Branch CID has issued fresh summons to city-based hotelier Vikram Agarwal asking him to appear before investigation officer probing the cricket betting scandal here on June 10.
A few employees of the two hotels owned by him in Chennai were also being summoned, investigators said on Friday.
Responding to earlier summons, Mr. Agarwal had sought time on two occasions to present himself for interrogation.
Allegation
The allegation is that the hotelier indulged in betting and also allowed bookies to operate on his premises. After taking possession of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage and perusing other technical evidence, the CBCID has decided to question some employees on who frequented the hotels during the cricket matches.
The involvement of Mr. Agarwal surfaced during the interrogation of Uttam Jain alias Kitty, one of the bookies arrested in the case.
Based on reports that the hotelier was closely associated with CSK’s Gurunath Meiyappan, the Mumbai Crime Branch recorded his statements recently, police sources said.
“We have summoned Mr Agarwal to appear before the CBCID on Monday. His employees will also be questioned on different dates. The input as of now indicates that the hotelier was a punter and he allowed betting to take place on his premises. The quantum of money involved and the reasons why he gave complimentary rooms to bookies remains to be investigated,” a CBCID official told The Hindu.
Investigation so far had revealed that all financial transaction between the bookies and punters was in cash and there was hardly any business through banks.
Efforts were on to zero in on a Delhi-based bookie who is suspected to be the kingpin, the official said.
