IPL scandal: Senior cop moves SC for quashing his suspension

Senior Tamil Nadu IPS official G Sampath Kumar, who initially probed the IPL betting racket and faced allegations of receiving bribe from a bookie, today moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the order of his suspension from service, alleging that the decision was taken to protect influential people in the scandal.
Kumar, against whom disciplinary proceedings are underway, sought a stay of operation of the suspension order pending his plea before the apex court.
In the application, he submitted that the committee headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal, which probed the IPL spot and match fixing, clearly suggested that he has been kept under suspension without assigning any reasons with a view to hamper and delay the investigation.

Kumar said that while being posted as SP, Q Branch, CID (Internal Security) he went at the root of the investigation into the match-fixing scandal and brought out new facts related to the betting scandal but due to the hectic lobbying and clout enjoyed by people involved in the scam, action has been taken against him in order to let the influential people off the hook.
In the application, he claimed that he has been implicated in a criminal case to silence him.
"It is submitted that various efforts have been made to silence people involved in the investigation of the scam. The applicant/intervener (Kumar) herein, is one such victim.

"The applicant/intervener, who was infact the officer, who was investigating the scandal, has been suspended in a surreptitious manner, in order to protect/hide bigger influential people involved in the scandal," the petition said.

Kumar, who was suspended on February 28, had made certain allegations in his deposition before Mudgal Committee that went into IPL scam.
The official had probed the betting racket while he was in the Q branch (a state intelligence wing on internal security), before the case was transferred to the CB-CID.
Later, it was alleged that a bookie had "confessed" to police that he had "collected" money on the "instructions" of the official.