Bookies wanted to blackmail players

The interrogation of 11 arrested bookies linked to the Indian Premiere League (IPL) spot-fixing saga has revealed that bookies wanted to film MMS-es of the three arrested players belonging to the Rajasthan Royals ~ S Sreesanth, Ajith Chandila and Ankeet Chavan ~ with escorts to blackmail them in future if they ever turned down their offer, according to sources.  

However, the plan could not take shape as the tainted players landed in the special cell's net for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing cases, said the source.   

“During the interrogation, Sreesanth reportedly told investigators that Biju, the alleged middleman, and the bookies attempted to make a video of him in a Mumbai hotel,” said the source.  

Sreesanth had independently checked into a five-star hotel in Mumbai on 13 May, along with Biju, just two days before they were arrested over allegations of spot-fixing in the IPL, Mumbai Police said today.  

It has already been established that the bookies had supplied women escorts to the players in their hotel rooms; they wanted to film the cricketers with escorts and use the MMS-es to blackmail them. This way, they could ensure that the players would be an integral part of the fixing racket and stay with the syndicate in future editions.  

“Since these three players were only small cogs in the wheels of the entire spot-fixing racket in the IPL, the mastermind, Sunil Ramchandani alias Sunil Dubai, expressed his wish to make them more useful as their permanent channel,” said the source.  

Delhi Police's tapped conversations between the players and the bookies revealed that the latter used to arrange women for players involved in spot-fixing. It was learnt that two bookies, Manan and Chand, arranged women for Sreesanth and Chandila on at least three occasions. The players were accompanied by girls at the time of their arrest in Mumbai.   

The source said that bookies had decided to make MMS-es of these players during the last week of the ongoing IPL season, but the special cell exposed the scandal and arrested the players before the bookies could strike. Further investigations in the case are underway. (The Statesman).