BCCI launch separate inquiry into KPL corruption allegations, confirms Anti-Corruption Unit
BCCI's Anti-Corruption Chief Ajit Singh confirmed on Friday that the national body has launched a separate inquiry into the corruption allegations in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL). The Central Crime Branch had recently arrested former players CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi on charges of match-fixing.
Ajit is supposed to meet newly-elected BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, and give him all the anti-corruption reports of the past two years soon. In the interim, he is leading an inquiry into the reports of corruption in the KPL, which has brought the focus firmly on whether the BCCI is indeed serious at curbing corruption in cricket.
"There are two points here. When the Bangalore police files its chargesheet, its investigation will be complete. We'll take a copy of that chargesheet. Secondly, there are some people against whom we have also launched our inquiry. We're taking their statements and giving them the opportunity to defend themselves. After that, we'll propose the necessary action to the Board," Ajit told TOI.
"They're 'participants.' It's a wide definition, which includes, players and support staff, or anyone. However, we can't give you the names until we complete the inquiry. From this year, it's the BCCI who will take care of their anti-corruption needs. We're happy that we've got leads and are conducting inquiries. We're in touch with the police. If we've something, we pass it on to them because they've the legal authority to take care of a much wider spectrum. We can only take action against the 'participants,' but they can do that against the others, like the bookies, too. We can't act against the bookies," he said.
While Ajit remains confident that the inquiry, once complete, will have far-reaching impacts, the unit’s previous chief Neeraj Kumar called for stricter norms for team owners and Ratnakar Shetty, former development manager with the BCCI, agrees to the same.
"I had warned the Board many times on this count. The owners of teams can be dubious, and can strike a deal with the players to do 'certain things' for them in lieu of a favour. The BCCI needs to screen the owners of these teams thoroughly. You can't relax the norms to become a team owner," Neeraj said.
"After this KPL incident coming to light, the BCCI must seriously think about the future of these state association-conducted T20 leagues. The credentials of the team owners in these leagues have been exposed after this incident. The cricketers will fall victim to the wrong kind of people coming into the game," Shetty said.
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