New Delhi: Raj Kundra, a co-owner of Indian
Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals, has admitted during
interrogation to illegal betting in the "last two-three years," claims
the Delhi Police. Mr Kundra divulged that he bet Rs. 1 crore in three years on his cricket team according to the Delhi Police, which believes those figures are under-reported.
Mr Kundra and his wife, actor Shilpa Shetty, are among the four co-owners of the Royals.
Meanwhile, Shilpa took onto twitter to claim her innocence. Shilpa
tweeted “For those who care,my apparent involvement in betting is
complete nonsense nd I have never bet on any cricket match ever.Truth
will prevail"
However, the police say that Mr Kundra's business partner, Umesh
Goenka, who was questioned recently, claimed that Ms Shetty also gambled
on the domestic Twenty20 tournament. Sources said that the accusation
had not been corroborated during the police's investigation so far.
Mr Kundra was interrogated for nearly 10 hours on Wednesday and
allegedly divulged information about two bookies he used to place bets.
Gambling on all sports except horse-racing is illegal in India.
Delhi Police chief Neeraj Kumar said that Mr Kundra "lost a huge
amount of money through betting." To prevent him from leaving the
country, Mr Kundra's passport was taken from him yesterday.
Three players from Mr Kundra's cricket team, including Test pacer S
Sreesanth, were arrested last month for spot-fixing. They have denied
charges that they took money from bookies to deliberately bowl badly
during pre-determined overs.
Rules of the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) dictate that
anyone affiliated to a team can be suspended for two to five years if
they are found guilty of betting. Guidelines for IPL team owners also
stress that a franchise can be terminated "if the owner acts in a way
that brings disrepute to the IPL."
Sources say the Delhi Police is unlikely to book Mr Kundra for
gambling, which is a bailable offence. The police say it wants to focus
on establishing links between bookies and underworld don Dawood
Ibrahim's crime syndicate or "D Company."
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