In April 2013, a secret information was received by Special Cell, Lodhi Colony, Delhi that some members of the Mumbai underworld are involved in match fixing in the ongoing Indian Premier League matches with the active participation of some unidentified conduits / bookies/ players some of who are based in Delhi/NCR. The suspects were kept under watch, during which it was revealed that match fixers and bookies from Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab etc and some players participating in IPL were conspiring to indulge in spot fixing. Accordingly, case FIR No. 20/2013 dated 09.05.2013 U/s 420/120B IPC PS Special Cell, Delhi was registered on 09.05.2013 and investigation taken up.
During investigation it was found that a group of bookies was in touch with various groups of match fixers who were involved in spot fixing in connivance with some team members of Rajasthan Royals namely Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan.
The modus operandi adopted to spot-fix during the progress of matches included asking the bowlers to give pre-decided signals with the help of their accessories like wrist watches, wrist bands, neck chains, towels etc. at the time of starting the over. The bowlers were asked to concede at least a given number of runs in a pre-determined and mutually decided over. After receipt of the signal from the bowler, the bookies would bet heavily and make huge profits.
Some instances of such spot/ over fixings are as follow:
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- Jaipur:– Pune Warriors v/s Rajasthan Royals (5.5.13): In this match, as already agreed upon, Ajit Chandila gave 14 runs in the second over of his spell. However, he forgot to give the pre-determined signal as a result of which bookies could not bet in this match. This led to a lot of arguments and demand for return of money advanced to the player (Ajit Chandila).
- Mohali – Rajasthan Royals v/s King’s XI Punjab (9.5.13): In this match, it was decided that Sreesanth will put a towel on his trousers before bowling the second over of his spell and also give enough time to bookies to indulge in heavy betting. As decided Sreesanth bowled the first over without wearing the towel. In the second over, he put a towel on his trouser and then in order to give bookies time to indulge in betting, he did some warming-up / stretching exercises. In this over he gave 13 runs.
- In the Mumbai match on 15/05/2013 between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, Ajit Chandila motivated Ankit Chavan to take Rs. 60 lacs for one over and perform as per the direction of bookies. He was asked to give 13 or more runs in the second over of his spell. He gave 2 runs in his first over and in his second over, he was hit for a six on the first ball, two runs on the second ball and another six on the third ball (6+2+6=14), after which he controlled his bowling and gave one more run in the remaining three balls. In all he gave 15 runs in his second over.
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A Delhi Police team was camping in Mumbai for making arrests of the players and bookies who were indulging in spot/over fixing. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, Ankit Chavan (all players of Rajasthan Royals), Chandresh Patel r/o Andheri East, Mumbai, Amit Kumar r/o Ahmedabad, Manan r/o Ambavati, Ahmedabad, Jiju Janardhan @ Biju r/o Karnnur, Kerala were arrested from Mumbai. The players were staying in Hotel Intercontinental and Trident.
Meanwhile, another team of Special Cell, Delhi Police carried out arrest of bookies stationed in Delhi. Those arrested are- Deepak Kumar s/o Shri Dhani Ram r/o Patiala, Punjab and Rakesh @ Rocky s/o Shri Mohinder Pal Oberoi r/o Rohini, New Delhi and few others whose identities are withheld in the interest of further investigations.
In all 14-persons have been arrested which include four, who were working in the bookie exchange of one of the bookies. Preliminary searches were carried out in Mumbai, Delhi and Gurgaon. Among the items found during the search include 51-mobile phones, 5-laptops, 1-recording machine etc. which have been seized. More arrests of bookies are likely.
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