In a significant development that will provide more clues to the ongoing investigations into the IPl spot-fixing scam, Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Saturday seized Sreesanth’s laptop, I-pod, mobile phone, cash, data card and three diaries from the five-star hotel room, where the cricketer had checked into two days before his arrest by the Delhi Police.
In the meanwhile, the Delhi Police investigation has found that Ajit Chandila is the fulcrum of the spot-fixing. A team of Delhi Police Special cell conducted a thorough search at his Faridabad residence to hunt for more clues about his involvement with bookies. It carried out raids in Ahmadabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad to trace the money trail.
In Mumbai, acting on a tip-off provided by key bookie Ramesh Vyas, the Mumbai Crime Branch also seized a laptop, cell phone and other personal belongings from a five-star hotel room of Sreesanth’s friend Jiju Janardhan. Jiju was the go-between the players and the bookies.
The police had on Friday night searched the rooms of Sreesanth and Jiju, who had checked into the same five-star hotel in their individual capacities on the night of May 13 and stayed their till May 15 evening. The room bookings of Sreesanth and Jiju were done by a travel company, Tamarind Tours & Travels. Investigators declined to name the five-star hotel.
Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy told the media: “We are now trying to re-create the events which led to the booking of these rooms, etc.” “And we are recreating and rebuilding their movements on May 14 and May 15. As you are aware Sreesanth was picked up by the Delhi Police on the night of May 15 and taken to Delhi the same night. We are also in the process of obtaining the CCTV camera feeds to understand as to who were visitors to them (Sreesanth and Jiju) during their stay in the hotel,” Roy said.
According to Roy, the investigators earlier on Saturday afternoon obtained the court’s permission to take the “mirror image” of the seized lap tops, I-pods and mobile phones, which they expect will help us in the investigations.
On a query whether Sreesanth fell prey to any honey trap laid by the bookies, Roy said: “As far honey traps are concerned, we will be able to tell you about it only after examining the CCTV footage of the hotel which we are in the process of getting… But we are only interested in looking at such footage that has relevance to investigations.”
Replying to a question, Roy did not rule out the possibility of the Mumbai crime branch sleuths seeking the custody of Sreesanth from the Delhi police. “If need be we would seek his custody,” Roy said.
In a related but significant development, the Delhi Police has asked the official broadcaster of IPl matches to provide the raw footage of the match. Delhi Special Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, SN Srivastava said that they wanted unedited footage to study whether the tainted players were gesturing to bookies during breaks.
The broadcaster has been asked to provide the raw footage of the three matches in question that were played on May 5, 9 and 15 respectively at Pune, Mohali and Mumbai.
Investigating Officer Inspector Kailash Bisht has also sough the CCTV footage of the hotels where the players of Rajasthan Royals stayed during the matches in Pune, Chandigarh and Mumbai. Source said that Chandila had met a bookie in the hotel. This footage will help the sleuths nail Chandila as they have already gathered crucial evidences in the form of intercepted conversations, details of meetings and financial transactions.
It has now been revealed that the bookies had paid Jiju Janardhan Rs 10 lakhs meant for Sreesanth. It was an advance amount and the remaining amount was to be paid after the match. The deal with Sreesanth was for Rs 40 lakhs.
Investigators said that Sreesanth was regularly using Jiju’s cellphone to talk to the bookies oblivious of the fact that the said phone was under electronic surveillance. Chandila was paid an advance of Rs 20 lakhs and the rest 20 lakhs were to be paid after the match.
Chavan could not get even a single penny as he was arrested soon after the May 15 match against Mumbai Indians though he was promised Rs 60 lakhs by the bookie for the same.