NEWS
SCHEDULES
COLUMNS
PREVIOUS TOURS
OTHER SPORTS
STATISTICS
INTERVIEWS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Cronje case: Investigators stuck in the absence of fugitive bookie

Pradip K Bagchi in New Delhi

More than a month after the Delhi police's crime branch shook the cricketing world with the sensational match-fixing case involving the now sacked South African captain Hansie Cronje and some of his teammates, the investigations are stuck in the absence of fugitive bookie Sanjeev Chawla who remains in hiding in London.

The crime branch alerted Interpol to ensure Chawla's return to India. ''But till now there is no word from the British police or Interpol about Chawla,'' according to sources close to the investigators.

Chawla's passport was revoked by the Indian government following allegations of his involvement in match-fixing and it has since been communicated to the British government.

The Delhi police is likely to seek Chawla's deportation shortly.''There is no reason why the British authorities cannot deport Chawla who has been involved in a crime, and more so since his passport has been revoked. After all, in cases of invalid travel documents, a person is immediately deported,'' the sources said.

India and Britain have an extradition treaty.''But extradition is a long process involving the courts,'' the sources pointed out.

On April 7, the Delhi police disclosed the alleged involvement of Cronje and some of his teammates in fixing matches of the Pepsi one-day series against India in March and provided the South African skipper's taped conversation with Chawla as evidence after arresting another Indian bookie, Rajesh Kalra, the previous day.

Kalra is now in judicial custody and so is Kishan Kumar, a Bollywood actor and brother of slain music baron Gulshan Kumar, who was arrested by the Delhi police and the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the match-fixing case. Kishan Kumar has been charged with FERA violations in league with Dubai-based gangsters. Kalra was also interrogated by the ED for hawala transactions.

The Delhi police now needs to have Chawla, believed to be the kingpin, in their custody to unravel the truth. ''Whatever was needed, has been extracted from Kalra and Kishan Kumar by the police. Now it is important to get details of the case from Chawla,'' said a senior police officer. ''Chawla's interrogation will be the key to the investigations.''

The South African government has reportedly refused to give Cronje's voice samples and instead sought recordings of Cronje's conversation with Chawla during the series in India.''As of now, we are not in a position to hand over the sealed tapes to them (the South African government),'' the police officer said. A formal request from the South African government for the tapes is expected shortly.

Though the South African cricket board has instituted an inquiry under retired judge Edwin King into the Cronje episode, former captain Kepler Wessels has expressed doubts, saying a 'big cover-up of what has happened has just begun.'

Wessels has severely criticised the country's cricket administrators for refusing to accept the 'reality of match-fixing.' 'It is a case of hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil,'' he wrote in his column in a weekend newspaper in Durban.

UNI