ICC team fails to meet Gupta

Onkar Singh

A team from the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit, which was in New Delhi for the last few days, failed to meet Mukesh Gupta, who opened the can of worms in the match-fixing scandal.

Mukesh's father, Kishan Mohan Lal, confirmed that the team called to inquire about his son. He told rediff.com on Thursday that Mukesh could not meet the ICC team as he was away on a tour.

"Two Englishmen accompanied by an Indian lady were at our jewellery showroom on Wednesday. They asked for Mukesh Gupta. I told them that he was on a tour with family members and would be back on Tuesday," Kishan said.

"He has made a statement before the Central Bureau of Investigation and has nothing to add," he stated.

R N Savani of the CBI, however, denied that a two-member ICC team was in India or had met CBI officials.

"We have said what we had to in our report. Now it is for them to investigate. We have not been approached for a meeting with Mukesh Gupta. We do not know if anyone has met him directly," Savani said.

When asked whether the CBI was continuing investigations into the match-fixing scandal and looking into the nexus between bookies and the underworld, he replied, "We are continuing investigations. We never stopped investigations in the first place."

Meanwhile, Delhi Police crime cell chief Dr K K Paul was upset by the manner in which Sanjeev Chawla, who allegedly have made payments to disgraced South Africa cricket captain Hansie Cronje, was let off by Scotland Yard on Wednesday.

Chawla was arrested around mid-December last year but let off on bail.

"We are not aware under what charges was he arrested by the Scotland Yard and why he has been let off. If they do not want him, they should deport him to India, because he is wanted in a case with the Delhi Police.

"They may say that there is no evidence against him. But we have enough evidence to prosecute Chawla. After all, the case registered with us is being investigated by the Delhi Police and not Scotland Yard," Dr Paul stated.