Mumbai: As calls for his resignation as President of BCCI grow louder, Mr Srinivasan is headed to Mumbai. Sources say he is likely to meet Gurunath Meiyappan, his son-in-law, who was arrested late on Friday night by the Mumbai Police for his alleged involvement in betting in the current edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was named by actor Vindoo Dara Singh, who has been arrested for his alleged links with bookies accused of spot-fixing.
Here are the latest developments in the story:
1.Gurunath Meiyappan has been arrested on charges of gambling, cheating and conspiracy. He was questioned for nearly two hours at the Crime Branch office on Friday.
2. Vindoo Dara Singh had reportedly told his interrogators that he bet on games on Mr Meiyappan’s behalf, sources say. The actor has also reportedly also said that Mr Meiyappan lost Rs. 1 crore in betting.
3. Mumbai Police claims that Mr Meiyappan bet on Chennai Super Kings games in the ongoing IPL-6. Sources claim that during his questioning, Mr Meiyappan admitted to having placed bets, but said he did so at the insistence of Vindoo.
4.Mr Meiyappan is to be produced before a court in Mumbai within 24 hours.
5.BCCI chief Mr Srinivasan has said he has done no wrong and hence won’t resign in the wake of the controversy. “I have done nothing wrong. There is no question of my resigning. My conscience is clear,” he said.
6.He also alleged that there was a “political conspiracy” against him. “I won’t bow to political pressure,” he added. However, several BCCI members reportedly want him to quit, sources say. A section of the BCCI has reportedly approached former board president Shashank Manohar to take over as the interim president. (Read)
7.Mr Srinivasan’s India Cements, which owns Chennai Super kings, has distanced itself from Mr Meiyappan and claimed in a statement that he is “neither the Owner, nor CEO/Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings.” The statement added that he is “only one of the Members (Honorary) of the Management Team of Chennai Super Kings.”
8.Till Friday evening, Gurunath’s Twitter account described him as ‘Team Principal, Chennai Super Kings, Managing Director, AVM Productions and Entertainment, AVM Studios, AVM Constructions’. This was changed to ‘Managing Director, AVM Productions and Entertainment, AVM Studios, AVM Constructions’ around 5.30pm on Friday soon after India Cements released their statement.
9. Former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi has said the BCCI chief must resign immediately. “Srinivasan should immediately resign, if he (does) not resign, he should be thrown out immediately…I am very clear about the fact that if we don’t take the poison out of the system, the poison is only going to slowly grow and this will be the ruining of a beautiful game called cricket,” he said speaking to NDTV. (Watch)
10.Mr Modi also demanded that IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings should be eliminated from the league. “I am more concerned about the integrity of the tournament,” he added. Chennai Super Kings will take on Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2013 title clash on Sunday.
