Dawood, Chota Shakeel behind IPL spot-fixing: Delhi Police

In a sensational twist to the IPL spot-fixing scandal, Delhi Police today said that Sreesanth and two players were acting at the "command" of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Shakeel, among India's most wanted, as it invoked the stringent MCOCA against 23 accused in the case.

Police claimed it has "concrete" evidence like intercepted telephonic conversations to link Sreesanth and some others with D-company.

Under MCOCA, the accused face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment along with fine of Rs 5 lakh.

Police's disclosure came in a court which extended till June 18 the judicial custody of Sreesanth and 22 others against whom Maharasthra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was invoked. A total of 26 people have been arrested by Delhi Police since May 16 in the case.

"Since the accused persons were acting on command of people based abroad like Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and Chota Shakeel who have a continuous past record of organised crimes, provisions of MCOCA have been invoked against the accused," police told Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain.

The court, in its order, referred to the approval granted by Joint Commissioner of Police Special Cell for invoking section 3 and 4 of MCOCA and also a report citing reasons for the same.

"It has been stated that the approval for invoking MCOCA has been accorded by Joint CP (Special Cell) on the premise that the arrested persons/accused through extensive use of electronic and via media were in communication with each other and with their other associates, who are still absconding, including those associates who are based abroad.

"The illegal organised betting syndicate in India is being controlled by persons based abroad. The arrested accused persons have been found playing role of conspirators while others have been found acting as facilitators," the court quoted from the report.

"This organised crime syndicate besides controlling illegal betting was indulging in fixing performance of players and also the rates of betting," police told the court.

Under the MCOCA, charge sheet can be filed within a maximum period of 180 days as against 60-90 days under provisions of IPC. The police custody can be extended till 30 days under MCOCA whereas under IPC, it can only be extended for 15 days.

The accused face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment along with fine of Rs 5 lakh under section 3 of MCOCA while the jail term can go upto ten years along with fine of Rs one lakh and properties of the accused can also be attached under section 4.