IPL: Two arrested for alleged ‘pitch siding’ at Kotla
NEW DELHI: Two men entered the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi during Sunday’s IPL game between SRH and RR by allegedly obtaining accreditation cards fraudulently, and were arrested and investigated if their entry was to facilitate illegal betting, the police said.
Rohit Meena, additional deputy commissioner of police (Central District), said those arrested are Manish Kansal, 38, and Krishan Garg, 26. Kansal belonged to Punjab and was posing as housekeeping staff while Garg hailed from North-West Delhi and posed as a health worker with a civic agency.
“On Sunday, our police staff inside the stadium found their behaviour suspicious. They observed them for a while before questioning them,” said the officer. On questioning it was found that their accreditation cards allowed them easy access to most parts of the stadium. Meena said police custody of the two has been obtained and they were being questioned on how they managed to get accreditation cards. “We’re probing who all they were in contact with. That will help us determine their role,” he said.
It is learnt a probe is on into whether there were attempts to fix the game or carry out “pitch siding”, a mode of betting in which early inputs from the stadium about the outcome of each delivery would be an added advantage to a bettor outside, taking advantage of the lag of a few seconds before the action is relayed on TV.
BCCI anti-corruption unit head, Shabir Hussein, when contacted, said his team member too confronted a man during a game in Delhi.
Hussein detailed the incident, but did not give a date or match. “My team found it suspicious that someone carrying an housekeeping accreditation was speaking on the phone in a corner. When grilled, he ran away. We had his Aadhar card details which we handed over to Delhi Police. We suspect it was a case of pitch siding. We found no cases of anyone approaching players with any corrupt (intention) in this IPL,” Hussein said.
“The information he may be supplying could be to someone more influential among bookmakers and so we needed to inform the Delhi Police,” Hussein added.
A DDCA official, who did not wish to be identified, said the association will probe the matter. “We will carry out our internal investigation on how the guys got the accreditation cards. DDCA doesn’t employ housekeeping staff directly. We have hired a company who brings in their people,” the official said.