Police sources on Thursday said a part of the money allegedly paid to cricketer Sreesanth by bookies for spot-fixing in the recent Indian Premier League has been recovered at the instance of the cricketer’s event manager-friend Abhishek Shukla, who was taken to Mumbai following his arrest.
The money, around Rs. 5.5 lakh, was reportedly hidden in a flat in the Andheri area of Mumbai. The police also managed to get hold of the records of some major transactions (both in cash and through credit cards) carried out by the cricketer prior to his arrest. It is learnt that it was through Shukla that the police managed to know about the various purchases made by Sreesanth at outlets in Mumbai and Jaipur.
“He spent around Rs. 3.75 lakh in cash for either buying expensive articles such as apparels or for throwing parties. If one adds this amount to the recoveries made by the Delhi and Mumbai Police – Rs. 5.5 lakh and Rs. 73,000 respectively – the total comes to around Rs. 10 lakh, which was the sum paid to Sreesanth and thus almost the entire amount has been accounted for by now and the money trail is complete,” said an informed source.
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Shukla, who is accused of cleaning up the fast bowler’s hotel room in Mumbai following the latter’s arrest and is charged with destruction of evidence, was granted bail by the Saket Court on Wednesday. The police earlier said that after Sreesanth’s bookie-friend Jiju Janardhan came to know about his arrest on May 16, he immediately directed Shukla to visit the hotel room where Sreesanth was staying and remove the money and other articles from there.
The sources said the police were in the process of procuring the footage of Shukla, which was captured by CCTV cameras in the hotel, while he was going there after being alerted by Janardhan.
Janardhan himself was arrested on the day the police nabbed Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan.
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