BCCI president N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan on Friday evening arrived in Mumbai, and appeared before the Mumbai Crime Branch for questioning into the IPL spot-fixing scandal for his alleged links with betting syndicates.
According to Hindustan Times, Mumbai Police had summoned him to the metropolis for questioning, after actor Vindoo Dara Singh, arrested for involvement in domestic T20 league scam, had named him during questioning. Senior lawyer PS Raman was seen accompanying Meiyappan when he boarded the flight to Mumbai.
Though Meiyappan had sought time till Monday for appearance before Mumbai police, he was told to present himself by 5pm on Friday.
As the media attention shifted to Meiyappan and by default Srinivasan, Chennai Super Kings owner India Cements on Friday distanced itself away from him, saying he was neither owner, nor CEO or team principal of CSK, as suggested by the media.
According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, the company’s executive president TS Raghupathy in a staement said, "Mr Gurunath is only one of the members (Honorary) of the Management Team of Chennai Super Kings. India Cements follows zero tolerance policy and if anyone is proved guilty, strict action will be taken immediately. India Cements assures full co-operation with BCCI and the Law Enforcement authorities .”
Meanwhile woes for Srinivasan appeared to be mounting with demands for his resignation getting louder.
The NCP headed by Sharad Pawar, a former BCCI president, demanded that Srinivasan quit immediately "if he has any sense of morality and public accountability."
According to a report in The Times Of India, party spokesman DP Tripathi told a press conference that Srinivasan was under a shadow of doubt after his son-in-law had been summoned by Mumbai Police for questioning.
Sahara group chief Subrata Roy, whose team Pune Warriors exited the IPL couple of days ago, also demanded Srinivasan's resignation and his replacement by Sharad Pawar.
Questioning Srinivasan's conflict of interest in the game, Roy said Chennai Super Kings' contract should be terminated immediately in the wake of franchise owner Gurunath's name cropping up in the spot-fixing scandal. "If a franchise is involved in betting their contract should immediately be scrapped. If a owner is involved in betting it's wrong," he said.