Mumbai: Facing the heat after he confessed to having placed
bets on IPL matches, Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra on Thursday
defended himself saying he has done nothing wrong.
Raj Kundra has released an official statement giving his side on the entire matter.
In his statement Kundra said, “During the past couple of days, it
has been very distressing to witness that the media has come out with
various stories related to me; factually the discussions about me are
not wholly true. The version is either twisted, misconstrued or
exaggerated to make it highly news-worthy. I feel that my silence has
back-fired. As a law abiding citizen, I wish to state facts for those
who care about us, for cricket fans and all others in general.
Without hesitation I can state that I have done no wrong for which I
need to have any regrets. Since the arrest of RR Players on May 16th
there has been loud noise about the alleged match fixing in IPL. Delhi
Police arrested certain people after which speedy investigations
commenced. Since it was felt that the act of match-fixing had
deep-roots, it became necessary to have a thorough probe. In furtherance
of investigation, Delhi Police interacted with a large number of people
who might have information. As a shareholder in RR the investigating
team of Delhi Police deemed it fit to question me too. Upon receipt of
information that the police had certain questions to be put to me, I as a
law abiding citizen volunteered to positively respond to the call.
Needless to say, I satisfactorily replied to the queries raised by the
police and they accordingly allowed me to leave after my questioning.
However as the case develops, in due process, it may become necessary
for the police to question me further. In the interest of justice, it is
crucial that I am available in India. As such I have voluntarily
retained my passport with the police and have also assured my full
cooperation. Delhi Police themselves have had no grievance with regard
to this and they have already stated so publicly through the media.
However regrettably, some misconception prevails in the minds of
some people which is causing most undeserved embarrassment to me and my
family. I wish to clarify by this statement that I have not committed
any wrong and am myself extremely anxious to know the whole truth. It
may also be made clear that since I am a minority shareholder I have no
involvement in the day to day running of the franchise. I have always
remembered that the franchise takes a zero tolerance approach to
betting, spot-fixing or match-fixing and I entirely and whole heartedly
endorse the same. As far as my alleged own act of commission or omission
is concerned , I reiterate that I am totally innocent and in any event I
wish to make it abundantly clear that if an iota of wrong doing is
finally established against me I would unhesitatingly forfeit my share
in the franchise. Before I end my statement I wish to thank all those
who continue to stand by me and my family in these distressing times. “
In sensational claims in the IPL spot-fixing scandal, Delhi Police
on Thursday said Kundra has admitted placing bets on his IPL team
through a bookie-friend and that it was probing whether his actress-wife
Shilpa Shetty was also into betting.
Investigators also claimed Kundra (36) told them that he lost
around Rs1 crore in the past three years in betting on IPL matches.
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