Investigations into the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) match-fixing scam revealed that the players were honey-trapped by bookies in Dubai and Mauritius.
Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao, IPS, on Wednesday (November 20) revealed that foreign cricket players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) are also a part of the scandal. Rao said that bookies had sent the players on foreign trips for shopping and entertainment, where they were provided with money, expensive gifts and escorts.
He said that bookies had recorded videos of the cricketer's personal moments in the trip and used it to blackmail them into playing as per their instructions. It is alleged that a few cheerleaders were used by the bookies to honey trap the players.
CCB to form Special Investigation Team
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) is now forming a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil, IPS to investigate further into match-fixing. The Commissioner also blamed the regulatory bodies including the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) for not taking necessary action against such incidents in the past years.
"All this is within their domain. But they remained mute spectators. They could have taken action before the matter reached us. Many members in the KSCA and KPL team players and owners were aware of the betting racket but remained silent. They will be summoned for interrogation," he said.
According to the reports, CCB will now analyse the players and their performance and compare it with the past matches. The investigating agency has also issued a notice to KSCA and all KPL team management to provide information on the players, crew, match details and score sheets of the league along with video footages.
What is KPL?
Karnataka Premier League (KPL) was established by KSCA in 2009 and is held every year. It is a Twenty20 cricket league modelled after Indian Premier League (IPL) by BCCI.
A total of seven people have been arrested in connection with KPL scam including the owner of Belagavi Panthers, Asfak Ali Thara and cricketers Nishanth Singh Shekhawat, Abrar Kazi and CM Gautam. CCB has also issued 'lookout circular' against Arvind Venkatesh Reddy, owner of the Bellary Tuskers.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil, IPS had earlier said that Nishanth Singh Shekhawat was in touch with bookies and had contacted bowling coach of Bangalore Blasters, Vinu Prasad to fix players. An international bookie named Sayyam, a resident of Haryana was also arrested by the CCB.
