Meiyappan, Vindoo released on bail in spot-fixing case

Chennai Super King’s (CSK) former “honorary member” Gurunath Meiyappan and actor Vindoo Dara Singh Randhava, who were behind bars in connection with the IPL betting scandal, were on Tuesday granted bail by a metropolitan magistrate.

The other suspects in the case, Prem Taneja and Alpesh Patel, were also granted bail against a surety of Rs 25,000 each. They have been instructed not to leave the country and present themselves before the Mumbai Police DCB-CID twice a week.
The bail applications were moved on Monday, soon after the court sent them to judicial custody till June 14.

Meiyappan was taken into custody on May 25 for his alleged involvement in the IPL betting scandal. The police told the court that Meiyappan had confessed to placing bets along with Vindoo. The duo reportedly confessed to knowing some bookies.  
Clients cooperated

Defence lawyers have been stressing that while their clients cooperated with investigating officials, the police have not come across any evidence incriminating them in the “spot-fixing or match-fixing scandal.”

Defence lawyers S Maneshinde, representing Vindoo, and A Ponda, appearing for Meiyappan, assured the court that their clients would be available as and when required by the police for the investigations. Ponda pointed out that Meiyappan had responded to the summons and the police have already collected evidence through phone-tapping and other means even before his arrest.

Maneshinde contended that the allegation against Vindoo, pertaining to contacting bookies, cannot be construed as his involvement in a larger conspiracy in the alleged spot-fixing scandal.

The Mumbai Police DCB-CID arrested Vindoo on May 21 after the Delhi Police Special Cell whisked away cricketers S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandilia to Delhi in a covert operation.

Meanwhile, Chennai-based hotelier Vikram Aggarwal aka Victor, suspected to be one of the key operators in the southern betting syndicate, has been asked by the police to be present in Mumbai as it has some queries needing clarification.

In a separate development, the police on Monday took into custody bookie Kishore Lalchand Badlani alias Kesu Pune at the Mumbai airport, after he returned from a tour of Europe.