Virendra Randhawa alias Vindoo Dara Singh,the screen and reality television actor who was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the alleged fixing of cricket matches,had been in constant touch with the son-in-law of BCCI chief N Srinivasan over the last five or six years,investigations by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch have revealed. The man,Gurunath Meiyappan,is married to Srinivasan's daughter Rupa,and is the team principal and CEO of Chennai Super Kings,Srinivasan's IPL team. Vindoo was seen sitting next to Sakshi Dhoni,the wife of CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni,at the Chepauk during this IPL season. Vindoo and Meiyappan allegedly exchanged several calls until very recently. However,Crime Branch officers said they were not treating Meiyappan as a suspect yet. Srinivasan could not be reached for a comment. Vindoo has accepted knowing and being in touch with Meiyappan. He has said that he first met the businessman at a cricket-related party six years ago,and stayed in touch. We are conducting further inquiries to check if he is in any way involved in the racket,and only after that will we take any further steps, a senior Crime Branch officer said. Police are learnt to have established that Vindoo was an active bookie himself,and went by the nickname Jack in betting circles. He allegedly accepted bets from a fixed and limited set of clients numbering no more than 20,and passed them on to bigger bookies like Jupiter,Tikku,Sanjay Jaipur and Pawan Jaipur. He also put his own money on matches,sources said. Vindoo has said during interrogation that he was addicted to gambling and has been doing this for the last six years. He has bet on IPL as well as other cricket matches. In this season of the IPL,he had made a profit of Rs 17 lakh. However,settlements are made at the end of each season,and he was arrested before he could collect the money, an officer said. In an overnight raid at Vindoo's Juhu residence which ended on Wednesday morning,the police recovered three cell phones allegedly belonging to bookies Sanjay Jaipur and Pawan Jaipur. Vindoo has also allegedly admitted to having helped them flee the country,putting them up in a five-star hotel in Juhu on May 14,and driving them to the airport the next day,where they caught a flight to Dubai,police said. The Crime Branch,meanwhile,denied reports that several Bollywood celebrities were involved in the spot-fixing racket. While Vindoo's cell phone contained numbers of several actors,that did not mean they were suspects,the police said.
