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With more murky dealings emerging during the custodial interrogation of Vindoo Randhawa, Mumbai police probing the IPL betting scandal may question Gurunath Meiyappan, CEO of Chennai Super Kings, with whom the arrested actor was in "frequent touch".
Son of wrestler and actor Dara Singh, Vindoo, according to Joint Commissioner (crime) Himanshu Roy, was deeply involved in betting, earning Rs 17 lakh through the banned activity this year, and had even helped two bookies escape from India.
Vindoo, an actor, sources in the crime branch said, had told his interrogators that he came into contact with Meiyappan, who comes from an affluent south Indian family which is into film production, 5-6 years ago.
"Vindoo told us that he met Guru at a party thrown for cricketers 5-6 years ago and the two knew each other since then. Vindoo spoke to him over the phone on several occasions," sources told PTI.
"Vindoo also claimed that Guru did not have much knowledge about cricket but all this needs verification," they said.
Sources, however, said it was "too premature" to conclude that Meiyappan was himself involved in betting.
"Vindoo made several calls to Meiyappan of the Chennai IPL. We may call the person in question to ascertain the reasons why these frequent calls were made," an officer involved in the probe said.
According to Roy, the tainted actor had admitted to having facilitated the escape of two bookies -- Pawan Jaipur and Sanjay Jaipur-- to Dubai from Mumbai on May 17.
After the Mumbai police busted an international betting racket with the arrest of key bookie Ramesh Vyas and three others on May 14, Pawan and Sanjay had gone underground to evade arrest.
"Pawan and Sanjay landed in Mumbai on May 16 and checked into a posh hotel in suburban Juhu with the help of Vindoo. The next day, Vindoo drove them to the international airport in his car and duo fled to Dubai," another crime branch officer said.
Roy said the actor's Juhu residence was searched and three mobile phones belonging to Pawan, a laptop and an iPad of Vindoo were confiscated and data were being analysed.
