The latest in a series of scandals to engulf the Indian Premier League deepened on Thursday, as police investigating betting corruption allegations "moved to question the chief executive of one of the event’s leading teams," according to James Crabtree of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Mumbai police officers travelled to the southern city of Chennai to "issue a summons" to Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan over "alleged links to one of the figures arrested during the probe." A Chennai Super Kings spokesperson "declined to comment," but the development "brings the police investigation closer to the heart of the IPL’s senior management." The Chennai team is controlled by powerful business and cricket mogul N. Srinivasan, who is also Meiyappan’s father-in-law. Srinivasan also heads the the Board of Control for Cricket in India (FT, 5/23). The PTI reported police said that the call records of Randhawa, son of late wrestler-actor Dara Singh, who was arrested in the IPL betting case on Tuesday, "indicated he had made several calls to Chennai and some to Meiyappan." An officer involved in the probe said, "Vindoo made several calls to Meiyappan of the Chennai IPL. We may call the person in question to ascertain the reasons why these frequent calls were made." The actor "was arrested for his alleged association with bookies." Vindoo, winner of reality TV show Bigg Boss season 3, "was allegedly in touch with some bookies held in the scandal." He also reportedly "admitted to having facilitated the escape of two bookies," Pawan Jaipur and Sanjay Jaipur to Dubai (PTI, 5/23).
NEW LEGISLATION: The PTI also reported the Union Law Ministry "is mulling a new anti-fixing legislation." Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said, "We are in touch with the Home Ministry and the Law Ministry to work out the law. We will consult the Attorney General before moving forward. It is necessary that there is a law or a deterrent. There is no guarantee that this is not happening in other sports. Who knows it might have started in other sports as well" (PTI, 5/23).
