The CBI Report in Full -- Part 12

Statement of Ajay Gupta Ajay Gupta

, one of the punters/fixers, states that he had a number of petrol pumps in Delhi and had very close ties with one Gyan Chand Gupta and his family with whom he also had a partnership for exporting of rice to Dubai. He knew Ajay Sharma for quite a few years.

He met him at the Roshanara Club since both were members. He met Azharuddin in 1998 through Ajay Sharma for the first time in Hotel Taj Palace, SP Marg. Azharuddin had told him that he had a letter of intent for allotment of petrol pump in the discretionary quota for Bangalore city which he had got way back in 1996 through the then Minister of Petroleum.

Since the matter of discretionary quota is under litigation at present, he had asked Ajay Gupta to pursue his case. Thereafter, whenever Azharuddin visited Delhi, Ajay Gupta used to meet him to obtain his autograph etc. for his children. He completely denied he was into match-fixing or he ever placed bets during cricket matches. He stated that all his cell phone conversations with Azharuddin related to Azharuddin's problems with the petrol pump allotment.

He added that he was in England during World Cup, 1999 in connection with the admission of his son and that Ameesh s/o Gyan Chand Gupta had also come there after a holiday in Switzerland. On being asked whether they met Azharuddin and whether Ameesh paid for Azharuddin's shopping at Harrods, he stated that he had no knowledge of the same.

On being asked why he had tendered an affidavit at the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) offering to bear the expenditure of Ajay Sharma and his family to travel from India to UK during the World Cup, 1999, he, at first, stated that he did not recollect if he had done so.

However, on being shown the said affidavit, he accepted that he had submitted the affidavit to help Ajay Sharma getting a visa for UK. On being asked as to why cell phone no. 98-111-50860 registered in the name of Gyan Chand Gupta's company remained with Mohd. Azharuddin during cricket matches, he stated that he did not have any idea about the same.

Statement of Sanjay Anand Witness Sanjay Anand

stated that he is a member of the Roshanara Club for the last 13-14 years and is involved in sports activities of the Club. Sanjay Anand accepted that he had been betting on cricket matches for the last few years with one Chabbra, resident of Ashok Vihar and one Surinder Mandi.

He knew Ajay Gupta, his cousin Nishit Goel and their family members since all of them were also members of Roshanara Club. He also knew Ajay Sharma who was an honorary member of the Roshanara Club and had coached the children of club members.

Sanjay Anand stated that he was introduced to Azharuddin at Hotel Taj Palace sometime in 1996 by Ajay Sharma. He was keen on meeting Azharuddin since he was a cricket fan. Around the same time that he was introduced to Azhar, Ajay Sharma requested him to introduce Ajay Gupta to him since he was keen on approaching Ajay Gupta on behalf of Azharuddin for match-fixing.

Accordingly, he introduced Ajay Sharma to Ajay Gupta and Nishit Goel, and in that meeting Ajay Sharma offered that Azharuddin could be of help in fixing matches. However, Ajay Gupta was not keen on the offer since Azharuddin was not the captain at that time.

Sanjay Anand further stated that he also knew that Ajay Gupta and Nishit Goel were also betting on cricket matches with Tinku, Babloo, Surinder Mandi and some other bookies. He stated that on one occasion he got payments for his gift items sold to Ajay Gupta through Babloo and Tinku.

In 1998 there was a meeting in Ajay Gupta's office at the request of Ajay Gupta where Sanjay Anand, Ajay Sharma, Nishit Goel were also present. At that meeting Ajay Gupta requested him and Ajay Sharma to introduce Azhar to him for fixing matches for which he promised to give him and Ajay Sharma Rs. 5 lakhs each.

Sanjay stated that sometime after this meeting, Ajay Sharma introduced Azharuddin to Ajay Gupta at Hotel Taj Palace in Delhi, but later Ajay Sharma did not pay him his share of Rs. 5 lakhs. When he approached Ajay Sharma for his share, Ajay Sharma told him that he had not received any payment from Ajay Gupta.

However, sometime later when he checked with Nishit Goel, he came to know that Ajay Sharma had already been paid for introducing Azharuddin to Ajay Gupta.

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