CBI officials slam Azhar's claims
Onkar Singh
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday denied charges levelled by former India skipper Mohammad
Azaharuddin that he had not told the investigating agency anything or admitted to match-fixing.
Azhar had told rediff.com: "They asked and they
replied," when asked if he had admitted to fixing matches.
A senior official of the CBI said, "We in the CBI do not answer the questions on behalf
of those who are under investigation. The
answers given by Azhar were recorded and shown to him,
and he endorsed them. There is no question of the CBI asking the questions and answering
them on his behalf."
He asked: "If Azhar is innocent as he claims to
be, then why did a bookie hand over to him a mobile phone early this year?; why were his hotel and shopping bills picked up by the bookies?; why did he make endless number
of calls to bookies during matches?.
"We have print-outs of the calls to prove our point."
CBI official spokesman S M Khan reiterated that the agency has not closed its investigation in the match-fixing case, particularly against Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma, who, he said, are
government servants and can be prosecuted for possessing
properties disproportionate to their known sources of
income.
"We are still investigating the matter and
looking for more information in this regard," Khan said.
Another CBI official added Azhar is not the only one to admit his involvement in match-fixing. Even Ajay Sharma, who
was examined in England, had confirmed certain facts about the former India skipper's involvement; besides, the statements of Mukesh Gupta, who was introduced to Hansie Cronje by Azhar, also proved that Azhar knew the bookies, he said.
"The fact that Gupta had stayed in the same hotel where the South African team was
staying proves that Cronje is telling the truth. Now
if someone goes ahead and says Allah will prove that he
is innocent, there is very little that the CBI can
do about it," said the official.
The CBI is now awaiting BCCI's vigilance commissioner K Madhavan's report, which will be presented to the cricket board on Saturday.
"We have done our job and now let the BCCI handle the rest," he said.
Mail Cricket Editor
