Recently, Delhi Police extradited Sanjeev Chawla, he alleged mastermind of a match-fixing case involving former South African captain late Hansie Cronje and it can create some trouble for several Indian cricket stars of yesteryears. Chawla was linked with several international cricketers, including Indian players, sources in the crime branch of the Delhi Police revealed.

Dossier prepared on the bookie by Crime Branch reveals that several Indian cricketers have met with him on quite a few occasions at his place in London and their phone numbers figured on Chawla’s phone list in Call Data Records (CDRs) recovered by police for the period of January to March 2000.

It was during the period this period (February-March 2000) when the conspiracy to fix matches was unearthed during the India-South Africa series played in India. Talking about the same, a former commissioner of Delhi police said, “As Chawla had slipped to London, he could not be interrogated and subsequently the CDRs connecting the then Indian cricketers with the global bookie was not pursued.”

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Crime Branch has also gathered documents from Scotland Yard as the latter arrested Chawla in 2001 in another betting scandal involving English players. On the basis of a statement of former England all-rounder Chris Lewis who alleged that Chawla had offered a bribe to the then England skipper, Alec Stewart to underperform in matches, Scotland Yard questioned Chawla and a prominent Indian sports promoter.

Regarding Chawla’s relations with Dubai based betting syndicates, former Delhi police commissioner Ajay Raj Sharma said a UAE number was initially traced by the Delhi police, however, Chawla’s links with underworld will be probed once he is interrogated in police custody.

The Delhi police charge sheet reveals that the phone number of Krishna Kumar (of T-Series music group) one of the associates of Sanjeev Chawla, was directly linked with a phone number of an alleged member of underworld operating from Dubai in early 2000.

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Describing the same, Ajay Sharma said, ” I am eagerly awaiting the outcome of questioning of Chawla, the mastermind of the match-fixing case who paid huge amounts to several cricketers to change results of important international matches. His interrogation will unravel more scandals of the past.”