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Change Your Life! |
Federal revenue officials arrested Kishan Kumar |
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News |
April 17, 2000
Kumar, who was arrested in a hospital where he is undergoing treatment for reported cardiac problems, has not been moved from his bed because of his poor health, doctors said. His arrest is the second since April 7 when Delhi police dropped a bombshell alleging that Cronje was part of a match-fixing scam and naming three of his team mates in a formal complaint.
The players named were Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom, but Cronje has said they were not part of any of the conspiracies.
A Delhi police crime branch source on Saturday said evidence to be produced in court soon would be "clinching."
"It is not for that man (Cronje) to absolve anyone. "We will produce clinching evidence in court to back up our FIR (First Information Report)," the source said of the formal charge lodged April 6. The Delhi police is likely to press for the prosecution to begin in the middle of next week.
Other police detectives say Kumar's arrest is also part of an ongoing probe aimed at unearthing links between bookmakers and India's underworld in match-fixing.
"Things are falling into place," a federal revenue official said without elaborating. Bookmaker Kalra, who was arrested at the time of the sensational police announcement, has reportedly disclosed names of at least seven others linked to fixing international cricket matches in India and abroad.
In the cricket-crazy Indian city of Calcutta, more than 1,000 young cricketers, meanwhile, staged a rally on Saturday to protest against match-fixing, witnesses said.
"Hansie, your confession has made us sad. Cricket is our passion, betting is bad," said a banner of Cronje's admission of wrong-doing.
Cronje was sacked by the South African cricket board Tuesday after he admitted he took up to 15,000 dollars but only for providing information and forecasts on matches.
The police in Delhi say the investigations into the scandal stemmed from a complaint with the crime branch in June last year when a private business group complained of illegal demands for money.
The police began tapping calls to executives of the group, the Apollo chain of hospitals -- where suspect Kumar claims to be recuperating -- and later tracked some of the calls to a telephone belonging to London-based Sanjay Chawla.
Detectives say they possess 14 audio tapes containing conversations between Chawla and the South African skipper during his stay in India.
Delhi police has sent detectives to Bombay and Bangalore to probe links between the case and Dubai-based Bombay underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim.
Indian Sports Minister S.S. Dhindsa, meanwhile, Saturday warned that the government would consult experts and initiate "stern steps" soon against match-fixers.
"The sports ministry, after holding a meeting with top cricket board officials and players and seeing the outcome of debate on the issue of betting in the ensuing parliament session, will come out with concrete plans to counter such happenings in the game in future," Dhindsa said. "The sports ministry will also see if betting can be made legal in cricket like in some other sports to minimise the impact of mischief-makers."
Dhindsa said he has called a meeting of India's cricketing authorities and players on April 27 for strategies to cleanse the game.
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