Meiyappan in police custody till May 29 in betting scandal

Gurunath Meiyappan, CSK team owner and son-in-law of BCCI chief N Srinivasan, used to place "huge bets" on IPL matches after fixing the game, Mumbai Police today told a metropolitan court which remanded him in police custody till May 29.
The CSK Team Principal, armed with inside information about the Chennai franchise, shared those with bookies to make money, Mumbai crime branch, probing the raging betting scandal, told the court.
Metropolitan Magistrate M P Paaghe gave Meiyappan's custody to the crime branch after it said his further interrogation was required to unravel the IPL betting racket.
"First a particular match was fixed, then Gurunath used to place huge bets on those matches," police said in its remand application.

Public prosecutor Wajid Sheikh told the court that even during the matches, a large number of calls were made by Meiyappan to actor Vindoo Randhawa, also arrested in the case, who would then call bookies Jupiter, Pawan Jaipur and Sanjay Jaipur asking them to place the bets.
The remand application said the crime branch also intended to investigate Meiyappan's relation with controversial Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf who was allegedly in touch with bookies.

One of the bookies was alleged to have left a parcel with actor Vindoo Randhawa to be handed over to Rauf who by that time had left India. Vindoo had allegedly facilitated the escape of the bookie to Dubai.

The crime branch application said it also wanted to find out the financial arrangement between Vindoo and Meiyappan.
"Cricket is a natural game but they (people like Meiyappan) make it unnatural," argued public prosecutor Sheikh, seeking seven days' police remand for Meiyappan.