IPL fixing: Police to submit CFSL report on Dawood Ibrahim link

NEW DELHI: Delhi police today opposed the bail plea of a bookie in IPL spot-fixing scandal, telling a court here that a CFSL report on call intercepts will be filed to prove that the accused were directly or indirectly acting at the behest of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Senior Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan informed Additional Sessions Judge Renu Bhatnagar that in a day or two, Delhi Police Special Cell will file the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report related to calls made by cricketers and bookies with alleged links to underworld.

Mohan alleged that bookie Jitender Kumar Jain was the chief financer for Ahmedabad, a Gujarat-based syndicate involved in spot and session fixing in the IPL.

He told the court that once the CFSL report is submitted, it can decide the bail pleas pending before it.

He said, "the report can establish the voice of all the 29 arrested accused, out of which 21 are on bail, who were found talking with Dawood and Chhota Shakeel."

They were also speaking to Dawood's associate Javed Chutani and one Salman, now in Pakistan.

The counsel for Jitender, however, opposed the police's argument saying "we are not claiming bail on the grounds of voice sample".

The counsel also said that the police might have tampered with the voice as they have already played audio recording of the call intercepts and the same were not kept in court custody instead they took the CD back with them.

"Did the police sought court permission to play the audio recording? If they have produced the call intercepts as evidence before the court, then it should have been exhibited by the court but it was not done...," the counsel said.

The judge, however, allowed police to file CFSL report on July 25, and asked the defence counsel and the prosecution to conclude their arguments in relation to Jitender on that day.

Meanwhile, the prosecution said that the court should not pronounce its order on the bail pleas of suspended Rajasthan Royals player Ajit Chandila, bookies Ashwani Agarwal, Ramesh Vyas, Deepak Kumar, Sunil Bhatia and Firoz Farid Ansari and ex-Ranji player Baburao Yadav. Presently all the eight accused are in judicial custody till July 30.

The court has fixed July 26 for its order on the seven bail pleas in which it had already heard the arguments.

The Delhi Police had on May 16 arrested three cricketers -- S Sreesanth, Chandila and Ankeet Chavan of Rajasthan Royals -- on the charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust.

Police has also slapped provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on Sreesanth, Chandila, Chavan and 26 others in the case, alleging that they were acting under the command of Dawood and Chhota Shakeel.

In the same case, the court had on June 10 granted bail to Sreesanth, Chavan and 19 for lack of evidence against them to be charged under MCOCA.