Team owners, players charged in KPL scam

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) probing the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) match-fixing and betting scam on Friday filed a preliminary charge sheet at the First Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court.

It filed the charge sheet against 16 people, including players, team owners, coaches, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) members and bookies, in three cases filed at Cubbon Park, Bharathinagar and JP Nagar police stations.

In the case registered at the Cubbon Park police station, the charge sheet has been filed against six people — owners of Belagavi Panthers and Ballari Tuskers Ali Asfak Thara and Arvind Venkatesh Reddy, KSCA management committee member Sudhindra Shinde, cricketers C M Gautham and Abrar Kazi, and bookie Amit Maavi — said Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).

In the case registered at the Bharathinagar police station, the charge sheet has been filed against six accused persons — player-coach Vinu Prasad, cricketers Vishwanath and Nishanth Singh Shekhawat, bookie Manoj Kumar alias Monty and Venky, and team owner Kiran.

In the case registered at the JP Nagar police station, four people have been named in the charge sheet — bookies Bhavesh Bafna, Sayyam, Jatin Sethi and Harish.

During the investigation, it emerged that the bookies directly approached owners and players, luring them with large sums of money. They had asked batsmen to bat slowly and bowlers to concede more runs. The fixing led to heavy betting for each delivery. "In all these cases, only a preliminary charge sheet has been filed," Patil said.

"An additional charge sheet or final charge sheet will be filed based on the findings and the evidence available during the probe," a CCB official added. All the 16 accused are currently out on bail.