IPL scam: Rajasthan Royals' owner Raj Kundra questioned by Delhi Police
Three players from the Royals, including Test player S Sreesanth, are in custody after being accused of deliberately bowling badly in exchange for pay-offs from bookmakers.
Raj Kundra, a co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals, was interrogated for 10 hours today by the Delhi Police in connection with the betting and spot-fixing scandal that has ripped through Indian cricket.
"A special mention to Inspector Tyagi whose real life encounters & experiences were eye opening a real super cop! In a funny way loved today," Mr Kundra tweeted after his interrogation. (Also read: Let no one face what I am facing today: Sreesanth's mother)
Last evening, Mr Kundra, who is 37, was photographed with his wife, Shilpa Shetty, as the couple walked to Mumbai's famous Siddhivinayak temple.
On May 16, three cricketers from Mr Kundra's team, including S Sreesanth, were arrested on charges that they took money from bookies to concede a pre-determined number of runs in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League or (IPL). The players have denied the allegations.
The Royals have four owners including Ms Shetty. Mr Kundra, the police said, was questioned because he appeared to be actively involved with the team and attended all but one match in this year's tournament. Police sources said that crucial information is being shared with the police by Royals cricketer Sidharth Trivedi, who is an approver in the case, and was present during today's interrogation of Mr Kundra.
The Delhi Police has arrested 26 people in the case, and said yesterday that tough charges would apply against all of them under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), which is usually used against crime syndicates.
In addition to the Royals, the Tamil Nadu franchise of the IPL, the Chennai Super Kings, is another team that has been tainted by the scandal. Gurunath Meiyappan, a business executive of the team, was arrested for allegedly passing information to bookies and placing bets on the IPL. Mr Meiyappan's father-in-law, N Srinivasan, heads the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India, and has been forced to relinquish his powers while an investigation into the betting and spot-fixing scandal is completed.