Spot-Fixing row: Sports Minister says my head hangs in shame today

Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday said he has been forced to hang his head in shame due to the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal, which is becoming bigger and murkier with each passing day, insisting that a deterrent law could have prevented the credibility crisis that cricket is facing right now.

"It is very shameful. As a young person, as a sports fan, as the Sports Minister of the country, my head hangs in shame today," Jitendra said.

Meanwhile, Vice-President of Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) Rajiv Shukla said, "The Mumbai and Delhi Police are competent authorities and let them finish the investigations before jumping to any conclusions. How can you term anyone guilty before the investigations are completed? Let the Police report be submitted and then we will be in a better position to talk further."

Earlier in the day, Mumbai Police reached Chennai with the objective of questioning Chennai Super Kings 'principal' Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of team owner and Board of Control for Cricket in India president N Srinivasan, in connection with the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal.

Meiyappan's name is figuring prominently in the interrogation of all those arrested so far, including Bollywood and television actor Vindoo Dara Singh.

Gurunath Meiyappan's questioning would revolve around his links with Vindoo and if he was involved in betting or was passing inside information about matches.

"Based on the outcome of the questioning, we will decide whether his actions fall under the domain of impropriety or invite legal action," the officer said yesterday.

Vindoo, interrogators said, has revealed that he was in touch with Gurunath during the ongoing T20 season - a fact corroborated by his call records. Police are trying to find out what the two spoke about.

Vindoo, allegedly linked to several bookies and cricketers, told the police he was introduced to Gurunath four-five years ago in Chennai by Anand Saxena, a Delhi-based bookmaker, and became friends with him. He claimed he went to Chennai to watch a match on Gurunath's invitation.

The small-time actor has revealed that he made crores from betting on T20 matches, and his take-home from this season was Rs. 17 lakh.

In the Capital, betting continues unabated despite police heat on bookies, Delhi cops said. They also hinted at the possibility of a similar scandal in the Bangladesh Premier League, based on the questioning of arrested bookie Sunil Bhatia.