Prabhakar8217;s witnesses8217; abandon him

Sidhu has not corroborated the statement of Manoj Prabhakar. 8220;I am not aware that Kapil paaji offered him Prabhakar any money,8221; Sidhu is believed to have told the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI in his statement recorded last week. Sidhu was Prabhakar8217;s room-mate in Colombo and was allegedly present when Kapil Dev came with the offer. According to Prabhakar8217;s statement, he had shouted so loudly at Kapil Dev that the players in the adjacent room, Mongia and Vaidya, heard and came to see what was happening. The entire episode took place in Sidhu8217;s presence, according to Prabhakar.

But in his statement to the CBI 8212; probing the match-fixing allegations involving Indian players 8212; Sidhu reportedly refused to confirm Prabhakar8217;s charge against Kapil, sources said.

Vaidya in a signed statement expressed his shock and surprise for being drawn in the controversy. 8220;I have to categorically state that I am not aware of, nor have I witnessed any incident, as mentioned by Manoj Prabhakar appearing in the press today,8221; Vaidya stated.

He added: 8220;Statements contained in the newspapers about my presence during the alleged incident are not true. I am surprised to see my name appear in newspapers and I have only to state that I am neither aware or nor have I noticed any such incident of which Prabhakar was talking about,8221; Vaidya noted.

The CBI also questioned Ajit Wadekar, then team manager, in Mumbai over the past two days. 8220;We questioned him extensively yesterday and day before, and recorded his statement. What he has said can be crucial, not only in the present Prabhakar-Kapil case but also in the entire gamut of match-fixing,8221; said a senior official.

The CBI has already questioned sports secretary of Delhi District Cricket Association DDCA Sunil Dev and former BCCI president Inderjeet Singh Bindra, apart from Siddhu and Wadekar. 8220;We will also be calling Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, then team captain Mohammad Azharuddin and if need be Kapil Dev for questioning,8221; the official said. Shastri and Gavaskar were in Colombo as commentators for the Singer Cup tournament. Prabhakar claimed to have told them about Kapil8217;s offer.

8220;We will be questioning them more because they are senior players and can probably throw light on the match fixing per se and not just on this episode,8221; an official said, adding that the CBI was focusing on investigations and collecting evidence rather than just relying on the statements given by various players.

8220;Anybody can say anything but the main thing for us is evidence. Unless we can corroborate and back the statements with hard proof and evidence, they are of no value. We will definitely pursue what Prabhakar has said but that is not enough to build a strong case,8221; he said.

Since the CBI has a much larger charter than mere Prabhakar-Kapil case, sources said they were also shifting focus on the other side 8212; investigating the bookies and their role. 8220;There are some names which keep coming up frequently. Investigations into the bookies and their dealings is likely to yield a lot of evidence,8221; the official said.

However, he made it clear that the CBI was not handling the Hansie Cronje case. 8220;Investigations of that case remain with the Delhi Police. So we will not be questioning people like Kishan Kumar, Sanjeev Chawla and Rajesh Kalra. But if, during the course of investigations, we find there is some overlapping or inter-connection, then we can call them too,8221; he added.