Hansie Cronje was wined & dined by bookies at Bandra

The bookies had tried to hook Cronje to fix the Test match held in Mumbai in February or get Cronje to part with information that would help them. It did not work out as planned though Cronje attended a wine-and-women party hosted by the bookies at a Bandra flat.

A New Delhi-based bookie, Sunil, flew into Mumbai in mid-February for this explicit purpose and enlisted the services of a well-known city pimp, “Batla”. A woman doctor attached to a government hospital who moonlights at nights for well-heeled customers was also present at the party.

The party was arranged on the 6th floor of a nine-storey residential building at the northern end of posh Bandra Reclamation. Among those present at the party were Batla, one Vicky, Kishan, Ajay and the woman doctor.The party kicked off around 10.30 pm with Johnny Walker Black label. Sunil and Cronje are believed to have joined the party a little after 11.30 pm. Cronje was at the flat for well over two hours and was escorted to his hotel at about 1.45 am.

Sunil later told his associates that the deal could not be struck because of time constraints but they would follow Cronje to Delhi and contact him with the help of one Pawan. Pawan is believed to be a Delhi-based bookie who has since gone underground. Sunil’s whereabouts are still a mystery while Ajay flew to a Gulf country immediately after the party-meeting.

What’s more intriguing is that the Bandra party was planned by a Delhi-based `gutka’ company which was supposed to finance the match-fixing deal.

The Bandra party assumes significance in light of the fact that the Delhi police had earlier claimed that they had evidence to show the hub of match-fixing rackets was in Mumbai.

The woman doctor present at the party has been described to the police as being around 25 years, good-looking, around 5 feet 4 inches tall with curly hair. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a purple T-shirt for the party. Cronje too was in jeans, the police have been told.

While Batla shaved off his curly hair after the arrest of Kishan Kumar and Rajesh Kalra in connection with match-fixing, the girl has shifted her residence from the hospital hostel to a luxury paying guest facility at Versova.