Journalism of Courage
Nearly two weeks after their arrest,a magistrate court on Tuesday granted bail to eight accused,including actor Vindoo Dara Singh and Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan. They were released from Arthur Road Prison at 6.45 pm on Tuesday.
Their lawyers argued that the accused were victims of a deeper conspiracy within the BCCI. Magistrate MN Saleem granted bail on the grounds of parity since two other accused were released on bail last week.
Vindoo and Meiyappan were let off on conditional bail against a surety of Rs 25,000 and have been told to meet the crime branch every alternate day till probe into the IPL spot-fixing ends.
All eight of them have been asked not to leave the country.
Meiyappan8217;s lawyer,Aabad Ponda,argued that sections of cheating and conspiracy cannot be applied against him. Vindoo8217;s lawyer,Satish Maneshinde,argued that the two were being victimised. It is a larger conspiracy and the duo have been targeted, he told the court.
The prosecution claimed that Meiyappan was in touch with Vindoo during the IPL and had allegedly placed bets. With leads from Meiyappan,Vindoo allegedly got in touch with three Rajasthan-based bookies and placed the bets.
But Ponda told the court that no evidence has been furnished to prove the alleged offence. For 10 days the police kept him Meiyappan in jail but have not been able to bring in any evidence against him, he argued.
Though prosecution opposed their bail pleas claiming that each of the accused have played a key role in the case,Maneshinde argued that cannot be a reason to curtail anyone8217;s liberty.
Vindoo was named by several co-accused during their interrogation and was allegedly in touch with many bookies. He is also accused of helping two bookies escape from Mumbai.
Other accused,released on bail include Ramesh Vyas,Pandurang Kadam,Ashok Vyas,Pankaj Shah,Alpesh Patel and Prem Taneja . Two other bookies,Pravin Bera and Neeraj Shah,were granted bail on May 30. Of the 15 arrested by the Mumbai police,10 have been released on bail.
Badlani laptop recovered
The Mumbai police has a recovered a diary with its pages torn off,five cell phones and a laptop in a raid conducted at the residence of bookie Kishore Badlani in Pune on Tuesday morning.
Sources said the laptop contains crucial evidence on his betting activities and alleged links with bookies in Pakistan and Dubai. Badlani is alleged to have been in touch with these bookies via another bookie Ramesh Vyas,now in custody of the Delhi Police.
We recovered five cell phones,a laptop and three SIM cards from his residence. We also found a diary but most of the pages have been torn off.
However,the laptop computer contains clear records of Badlani8217;s financial transactions with bookies in India and abroad. We will soon prepare a list of names mentioned in the records and will investigate further,said a crime branch officer.
The police also plan to quiz Badlani about the contents of the diary. Officials suspect that he tore out the pages of the diary when the police crackdown on the spot-fixing racket began,after which he fled to Europe.
As soon as the crackdown began against Vyas and the other bookies,Badlani told his family that it was the ideal time for a trip to Europe. They left for Europe in a couple of days. We suspect that it was just before his departure that he tore the pages out of the diary, said another officer.
Badlani is among the few who had two lines abroad through Vyas,one to Pakistan and one to Dubai,the police said. He will remain in police custody till June 6.
I feel bad for Sakshi Dhoni
After getting released on bail,actor Vindoo Dara Singh rebutted allegations he faced since his arrest in the IPL betting scandal.
On Gurunath Meiyappan
I know Guru. He is a very good friend of mine.
On Sakshi Dhoni
I feel so bad for Sakshi. She was sitting in a row ahead of mine. She repeatedly requested me saying Vindu bhai,agey ajao. Sitting next to her was my biggest mistake. I feel sorry for her. I have not even taken her number.
On Mahendra Dhoni
I have greeted Dhoni a couple of times from far. We do not know each other otherwise.
On the money trail
This is what you media are saying. Has the money been found?
