A Mumbai-based bookie fixed an IPL match for Rs 6 crore after striking deals with four players of Sunrisers Hyderabad – Thisara Perera, Hanuma Vihari, Karan Sharma, Ashish Reddy, according to a statement by this bookie that has been included by the Mumbai police crime branch in its chargesheet filed on Saturday.
This bookie had been arrested by the Delhi police special cell from a Mumbai hotel. The bookie allegedly met the four players in Pune and fixed the deal with the help of other bookies. The brother of one of the players was a mediator in the deal, the bookie claims.
On Sunday, calls to Ashish and Vihari for their comments went unanswered. While probing the IPL betting scandal, the crime branch property cell learnt that Chandresh Shivlal Patel, 34, was one of the bookies in contact with some arrested and wanted accused. The police then recorded his statement on June 17.
Patel, a sharebroker from Four Bungalows in Andheri (West), in his statement to the police, has claimed that in March 2013, his Ahmedabad-based friend Pravin Thakkar, alias Pintu, introduced him to one Jitu Jain, who is in the finance business.
Pintu also introduced Patel to his friend Mannan, who was identified as a friend of cricketer Amit Singh. Patel’s friend Vinni from Mumbai introduced Patel to his friends Yusuf and Amir.
“In the last week of March, Yusuf gave me Amir’s number and asked me to call Amir, who wanted to talk about IPL matches. When I called Amir, he told me to come to Hyderabad `to set’ an IPL match there. I informed Jitu about this and he asked me to take along Pintu to Hyderabad for the deal. I then went to Hyderabad with Pintu and Yusuf. Amir accommodated us in a hotel room,“ Patel alleged in his statement, which is included in the chargesheet.
Patel said, “Amir told us that it would take Rs 5 crore to fix an IPL match in Hyderabad and Rs 1 crore will be mine (commission), so the total cost would come to Rs 6 crore. “Pintu informed Jitu about the offer, who in turn told us to finalise the deal if they could arrange a meeting with the players. Amir told us that he would arrange a meeting with the players on April 16 in Pune, but asked for an advance of Rs 50 lakh.“
Hyderabad player’s kin named in case
On being assured of a meeting with the players, bookie Chandresh Shivlal Patel and the others came back to Mumbai the next day and was informed by Pintu that Jitu had sent Rs 32 lakh to Amir. “On April 16, Jitu, Pravin, Yusuf and I went to Pune, where at Le Meridien Hotel Amir’s friend Sunil introduced us to Sunrisers Hyderabad team players -(Thisara) Perera, (Hanuma) Vihari, Karan Sharma, Ashish Reddy and his brother Pritam Reddy,“ Patel alleged in the statement.
“Pritam asked me what I wanted to do, to which I said that the score should not cross 60 runs in 10 overs and 140 runs in 20 overs and Sunrisers should lose the match,“ Patel claims. He also told Pritam that some signal should be given so that bets can be placed. Pritam told him he would finalise everything and inform Amir about the same. Patel and his part ners then left for Mumbai.
“The next day, Amir called me and said that Pritam told him that the signal was that in the second over a Sunrisers Hyderabad player will get out,“ claimed Patel.
On April 17, there was a match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Pune Warriors and, as Amir had said, in the second over, a Hyderabad player got out. Jitu placed bets of `3.5 crore on the first 10 overs, and `9 crore on overall result (win/loss). Jitu won the bet on the first 10 overs, but lost the second as the Hyderabad team won the match, which was not the deal.
