IPL spot fixing: CSK honcho Gurunath Meiyappan asked to appear before Mumbai police

CHENNAI/MUMBAI: The Mumbai police issued summons to Gurunath Meiyappan, the team principal of Chennai Super Kings, to appear before it for questioning about his alleged links to the ongoing betting scandal in the Indian Premier League.

A special three-member team flew down to Chennai and arrived at Meiyappan’s posh Cenotaph Road residence at about 2.30 pm to issue the summons. But Meiyappan, the son-in-law of BCCI president N Srinivasan, was not present.

The team was made to wait for about 20 minutes before a representative of Meiyappan arrived to receive the summons on his behalf. As per the summons, a copy of which was also pasted on the front door of CSK chief’s house, he will have to present himself at the crime branch office in South Mumbai on Friday between 11 am and 5 pm.

Meiyappan’s name got mixed into the IPL betting investigations after the arrest of Bollywood small-timer Vindoo Dara Singh on accusations of being involved in the betting racket.

According to police officials, Singh had claimed that he had bet crores of rupees in this year’s IPL on behalf of himself, Meiyappan and many others. Singh claimed that his entry at many IPL matches held in Chennai was arranged by Meiyappan.

Police sources said a scrutiny of Singh’s call records show that he had several conversations with the CSK chief during the current IPL season. However, there is no suggestion at this stage of any links between Meiyappan and the spotfixing saga, which has cast a cloud over the tournament and cricket in general.

From Meiyappan’s house, the police team went to the headquarters of India Cements, which owns the Chennai Super Kings franchisee, where they issued a copy of the summons for Meiyappan.