NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals co-owner Shilpa Shetty is also involved in betting on cricket matches during the Indian Premier League (IPL), Indian media citing police sources said on Thursday.
Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar had earlier said that Shilpa’s husband Raj Kundra, one of Rajasthan Royals co-owners, admitted to betting in the IPL. Sources said Kundra’s friend Umesh Goenka had revealed that Shilpa is also involved in betting.
The sources said that Goenka in his statement under Section 164 of the CRPC said that Shilpa asked him to bet in a particular match. Goenka also mentioned that Kundra would place bets through him in IPL matches. The sources said that the statements given by Goenka can be used as evidence. Questioning of Shilpa Shetty also has not been ruled out, but the Delhi Police claims that they are verifying Goenka’s statement.
The police sources, however, said that they still don’t have enough evidence to make arrests. Neeraj Kumar said, “Kundra was called because we got to know he was involved in betting. Kundra admitted that he was into betting.”
Kumar added that Kundra even placed bets on matches of his own team – Rajasthan Royals through Goenka, who the police described as a bookie. The police also said Kundra suffered huge losses due to betting.
Kumar also said that the fact that Kundra is a British national doesn’t affect the investigation into the case. Raj Kundra was on Wednesday allowed to leave for Mumbai only after surrendering his passport to the Delhi Police. Kundra has been asked not to leave the country.
Sources in the Delhi Police say they are unlikely to arrest Kundra if they fail to find his links with spot-fixing.
Raj Kundra was questioned for almost 12 hours by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Wednesday. Sources told CNN-IBN that the police found some of Kundra’s answers to be inconsistent. Kundra is likely to be questioned again.
Sources say Rajasthan Royals player Siddharth Trivedi told police that Goenka used to ask players for specific information during the IPL. When asked whether Siddharth Trivedi was involved in betting, Neeraj Kumar said, “Siddarth Trivedi only gave us the information. He was not into betting.”
Late on Wednesday night Raj Kundra tweeted where he lashed out at the media and claimed that he was merely helping the Delhi Police.
“Just for the media who spent a full day outside crime branch and didn’t get a byte. My visit to crime branch was to help them in the case,” Kundra tweeted.
