India police to file charges in Cronje-linked fixing case

Published July 22, 2013
The late Hansie Cronje. -Photo by AFP
The late Hansie Cronje. -Photo by AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian police were expected on Monday to file charges against bookmakers, 13 years after a match-fixing scandal involving the late South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje, a police source said.

Police have prepared a “detailed charge sheet” expected to be presented before a chief metropolitan magistrate in New Delhi against five bookies, the source told AFP.

The action comes after Delhi police chief Neeraj Kumar told local media that he planned to file charges in the Cronje match-fixing case and an IPL spot-fixing scandal before the end of the month.

Kumar told the Hindustan Times newspaper on Saturday that he was working on tying up “some loose ends” before his retirement at the end of July, including both cases.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) was rocked by allegations of spot-fixing in May this year, with some 29 people arrested including three Indian players.

Cronje was banned from the game for life in October 2000, six months after Delhi police accused him of taking money from Indian bookie Sanjeev Chawla during his team's tour of India the same year.

Police say Cronje had accepted money from Chawla for underperforming during the one-day series in India and had also persuaded team-mates Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom to come on board.

Cronje was sacked as captain following a South African inquiry set up to investigate the bribery scandal, at which he admitted accepting $10,000 to $15,000 from Chawla.

On Monday police were likely to produce as evidence “hundreds of pages” of telephone call records between Cronje and Chawla, the source said.

Chawla is believed to be living in the UK and Indian police hope to seek his extradition once the charge sheet is placed before the court.

The charge sheet was unlikely to name Gibbs or Boje although they have been quizzed by Indian investigators in the past, the Indian Express newspaper said Monday.

Cronje died in June 2002 aged 32 when a light plane in which he was travelling crashed in bad weather.

Opinion

Editorial

Last call
15 Nov, 2024

Last call

IT does not seem prudent for a party of PTI’s heft to have issued a ‘final call’ for a ‘final’ protest. Politics is, by its very
Mini budget talk
15 Nov, 2024

Mini budget talk

NO matter how much Pakistan’s finance managers try to downplay the prospect of a ‘mini budget’ to pull off a...
Diabetes challenge
15 Nov, 2024

Diabetes challenge

AMONGST the many public health challenges confronting Pakistan, diabetes arguably does not get the attention it...
China security ties
Updated 14 Nov, 2024

China security ties

If China's security concerns aren't addressed satisfactorily, it may affect bilateral ties. CT cooperation should be pursued instead of having foreign forces here.
Steep price
14 Nov, 2024

Steep price

THE Hindu Kush-Himalayan region is in big trouble. A new study unveiled at the ongoing COP29 reveals that if high...
A high-cost plan
14 Nov, 2024

A high-cost plan

THE government has approved an expensive plan for FBR in the hope of tackling its deep-seated inefficiencies. The...