Dawood named in spot fixing charge sheet

Fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim, his aide Chhota Shakeel and three Rajasthan Royal cricketers figured in the charge sheet filed by police Tuesday in a Delhi court over the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing case. Dawood was identified as the kingpin of the racket.

The formal set of charges, running into 6,000 pages, were filed before Additional Sessions Judge Vinay Kumar Khanna. The charge sheet named cricketers S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan among the 39 accused in the scandal related to IPL-6 earlier this year.

The accused have been charged with offences of cheating and conspiracy under sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid and player Harmeet Singh have been made prosecution witnesses in the case.

Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan were arrested in May on the basis of phone conversations and footage of IPL matches in which they were caught giving predetermined signals to bookies.

The three players of Rajasthan Royals, along with 11 bookies, were arrested from Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi in May. Another 15 people were arrested from different parts of the country later.

Till now, 29 people had been arrested in the IPL spot fixing case. Twenty-one of them are on bail, while eight are in judicial custody. Ten accused are still absconding.

Twenty-one accused in the case, including Sreesanth and Chavan, have been granted bail by court, while the others, including Chandila, are in judicial custody.

Police have also moved court for the cancellation of bail granted to Sreesanth, Chavan and 19 others.

The court had also issued non-bailable warrants against Dawood and Chhota Shakeel.

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar earlier said that he would like the charge sheet in the spot fixing case to be filed before he hangs up his boots July 31.