Shantakumar Sreesanth was on the radar of the notorious Dawood Ibrahim crime syndicate after his involvement in the controversial ‘slapgate scandal’ with off-spinner Harbhjan Singh, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier league (IPl).
The controversy was created after Harbhajan allegedly slapped Sreesanth during a match when the fast bowler was part of the King XI Punjab. This act was noticed with interest by the D-Company and they decided to encash his frustration and resentment against other players. Dawood's men were after Sreesanth and kept on approaching him to agree to their wishes and they finally won him in 2013.
Interrogation of bookies has revealed that temperamental Sreesanth was in their list and they wanted to entice him. They found him vulnerable after that 'slapgate scandal" involving Harbhajan Singh. It was Chhota Shakeel who wanted to rope in the services of Sreesanth as he found him susceptible to lure of the lucre and he was put in their list of players who could be won over.
His resentment towards his team mates and some of the key Indian cricketers had made Sreesanth more vulnerable, the bookies confessed during interrogation. They had drawn out a list of players who appear vulnerable and trap them. Sreesanth was marked in 2008 by the D-Company and the constant vigil on the fast bowler ultimately helped them in winning him over in 2013 edition of the IPl.
Interestingly, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila too were identified as the soft targets that could be influenced. The D Company had showered them expensive gifts and they were hooked to lavish life style. They were trapped easily, some of the bookies told the sleuths during interrogation.
Bookies had ensured that all players were approached individually and all three were never spoken together.
as the bookies feared that it may lead to premature leakage of information. Separate set of bookies were tasked to talk to each player and fix their role during the course of the match so that they can make the killing, a police official said.
Sreesanth was vulnerable on two counts. He enjoyed a lavish lifestyle and secondly, he had resentment towards his team members following the slapgate, said the arrested bookies. Ramesh Vyas and Chandresh Jain alias Jupiter were tasked to trap Sreesanth and they got him via Jiju Janardhan. Bookies had used all the tricks in the book to win over mercurial pacer. They supplied call girls to Sreesanth and they recorded his act and the same was used to blackmail him to fall in the line or else. Investigations have found that bookies had threatened Sreesanth to agree to them or face the consequences. According to a senior Delhi Police officer, this was one of the reasons for booking the cricketer and other accused under sections 3 and 4 of the MCOCA.