`Prabhakar’s tape has his dirty linen’

Sources said Prabhakar was quizzed about his links with various women, including an actress, and another one who was also associated with a bookie, Anand Saxena. A CBI official said that they were not interested in probing Prabhakar’s personal life but the subject of women came up while investigating Delhi-based bookie Saxena.

“Both Prabhakar and Saxena were intimate with the same woman. And we questioned him about his female acquaintances only to the extent it was necessary for the match-fixing inquiry. Decency demanded that we do not put everything in the report. But if Prabhakar got it on the tape, it will only go against him,” said a CBI official obviously not too happy about being taken for a ride by the former cricketer.

The CBI had only alluded to this in the final report. Quoting bookie Mukesh Gupta alias MK, the report said, that “Saxena continued his friendship with Manoj Prabhakar since both of them had similar habits.” This had followed the reference to Saxena’s “womanising” habits and his having contracted an illness. “We did not go into details because it was not relevant for the inquiry,” said the official.

Sources in the CBI said they now regret not frisking Prabhakar when he came for his interrogation. “He was carrying a briefcase when he came. One of the five officials in the team who questioned him apparently expressed his suspicions since Prabhakar had earlier used a small camera fitted in a briefcase for his stealth operation in taping his conversations with former cricketers, managers and BCCI officials. But Joint Director R N Sawani, who was heading the investigations, chose to overlook it.”

So it was a briefcase camera which Prabhakar used to record his interrogation. “There are other more convenient eye-cameras hidden in watches, tie-pins, pen heads and cigarette lighters. Probably Prabhakar had only this one,” said the official. These small cemeras have a powerful lens and a recorder and are effective for sleuths. In fact, the CBI itself uses them very frequently.

According to sources, however, there might be bits in the cassette which could cause some embarrassment to the CBI too. But a CBI official strongly asserted that there could be nothing discomfiting in it for them since the conduct of all five interrogating officials was above board. “They did not use a single unparliamentary word, not even something like bloody. In fact, we challenge Prabhakar to make this cassette public. And without editing it,” he dared.

CBI can’t do much
Prabhakar’s interrogation itself was outside the palke of law. The CBI only conducted a “preliminary enquiry (PE)” into the match-fixing scandal.

Since it nevcer registewred a “regular case (RC),” no investigation has taken place under the law. As such, the CBI has little scope to accuse Prabhakar legally of interfering with the investigation.