Citing underworld links, the Delhi Police Special Cell on Tuesday invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against all the accused in the IPL spot-fixing case, including cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan. The police also named underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aide Chhota Shakeel as the "controllers" of the fixing-betting racket.
Police claimed to have evidence, including telephone intercepts, to link the accused with the gangsters. The police told the court that the "on-field performance of the players were manipulated by the network through shady deals of gifts, money and women".
Stating that "the illegal proceeds made through the racket were invested in economic activities", the police said it was the "overseas actors who decided the rates at which the betting was to be conducted".
Citing links with "organised crime syndicates based abroad", special public prosecutor Rajeev Mohan told the sessions court that the "command for the crime" came from abroad, from "persons who have a history" of organised criminal activity.
"The arrested persons have been found to have been playing the role of conspirators, abettors and facilitators for the crime syndicate," he said, adding that the money was sent from India to persons in Pakistan and Dubai.
"It has been stated that the approval for invoking MCOCA has been accorded by Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) on the premise that the arrested persons/ accused... were in communication with each other and with their other associates, who are still absconding, including those associates who are based abroad," noted Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain, who heard the MCOCA proceedings.
The court accepted the argument that MCOCA could be invoked as Chhota Shakeel, named with Dawood Ibrahim and "unidentified accused", has a history of cases against him and would come within the ambit of "organised crime".
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