Board of Control for Cricket in India Wants N. Srinivasan Camp to Come Clear on Snoopgate Spending
Board of Control for Cricket India had paid an UK-based security and investigations company Rs 6 crore to allegedly 'spy' on certain Board officials who opposed N. Srinivasan.
The Shashank Manohar-led Board of Control for Cricket in India wants two senior Board officials to come clear on why an UK-based security and investigations company was hired by ex-BCCI chief N. Srinivasan and his team.
According to reports, UK-based Page Protective Services were paid USD 900,000 (about Rs 6 crore) from the BCCI's coffers in 2013-14 apparently to monitor 24x7 certain individuals who were allegedly Srinivasan's rivals in the cricket Board. PPS has admitted it was hired but did not give details.(Has Srinivasan Met his Waterloo?)
The "Snoopgate" scandal was discussed at the BCCI's AGM on November 9 and a two-man committee comprising Ajay Shirke and G. Gangaraju was appointed to investigate the matter.
Shirke and Gangaraju have met former secretary Sanjay Patel and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry to delve deeper into the issue. Both Patel and Chaudhry were in Srinivasan's core group of BCCI officials but lost their prominence after the Tamil Nadu strongman was stopped by the Supreme Court to contest BCCI elections.
Srinivasan was also removed as ICC chairman and replaced by Manohar, a former Board chief and a noted lawyer, known for his anti-Srinivasan stance in the wake of the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
Manohar is believed to be investigating possible unauthorised payoffs. It has been learnt that Patel released the work order for payment while Chaudhry released the money based on the order.
During the 2013-14 period, there was a lot of pressure on Srinivasan to quit as BCCI chief after the IPL spot-fixing controversy. The court had appointed Shivlal Yadav as a caretaker president and ordered Srinivasan to stay away from the Board's affairs.
(With Inputs from PTI)