‘Vindoo extracted info from players at parties’
MUMBAI: The Mumbai crime branch chargesheet states that Virendra Dara Singh alias Vindoo used to extract information from players on the pretext of being a cricket fan and used the information to place bets in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League.
Vindoo, who was introduced to Gurunath Meiyappan by Anand Saxena - a Delhi-based former bookie at a party in Chennai where Bollywood actors and cricketers were present, was the key person through whom Meiyappan and Asad Rauf placed bets with the Jaipur brothers - Sandeep Chabbra and Sanjay Chabbra, who are wanted in this case.
The chargesheet says, Vindoo was a regular at most aftermatch parties and befriended many players from whom he extracted a lot of information, which he then passed on to the bookies, who used it to place bets.
His popularity after winning the 2009 Bigg Boss helped him gain access to many players. “All this was done innocently. Vindoo would just strike a conversation and extract information in casual chats. He would not arouse suspicion,” said an officer, requesting anonymity.
Vindoo, who is a compulsive gambler and was active in the betting circuit for the past 6 to 8 years, was allegedly involved in roping in Pakistani umpire Rauf into the betting racket, the police said. Police also alleged that he and the bookies gave gifts worth ‘lakhs of rupees’ to Rauf.
After his arrest, the crime branch seized three mobile phones belonging to bookie Pawan Jaipur from the residence of Vindoo. The Jaipur brothers fled to Dubai after being tipped of police action by Vindoo. The crime branch also has an ipad and a laptop which has record of his betting transaction in the recently concluded cricket season.
The crime branch also has CCTV footages from two hotels in the Western suburb which shows Vindoo in the company of Jaipur brothers. Vindoo booked the rooms in these two hotels for the bookies using his drivers license as a proof of identity.
Sources said Vindoo won around R17 lakh this season through betting but no money had changed hands as all accounts are settled at the end of the season. Vindoo , who is out on bail, had claimed innocence soon after he was out saying that the police have no evidence to link him with the betting scam.
Asked if police tried to implicate him, Vindoo said, “No No, why they will try to implicate me. I didn’t do any crime, I didn’t do any wrong. They needed to know the truth, when they came to know, they let me go.”
Asked about Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra, whose passport was seized after close to 12 hours of questioning by the Delhi Police, Dara Singh said, “Raj Kundra is a friend. He is a good human being. I know him very well.
VERMA BIDS TO STOP SRINI FROM AGM
Aditya Verma, Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary, is determined to make things difficult for N Srinivasan. He will file an interlocutory application (IA) in the Supreme Court on Monday against the BCCI chief chairing the AGM on Sept 30. “As the matter is still pending in court, we’ll request the court to prevent Srinivasan from chairing the meeting and filing nomination for extension of his tenure,” Verma told HT.