Mumbai police on Monday grilled a casting director who sent photographs of models to S Sreesanth and has summoned a Telugu film producer having business links with the tainted India pacer for questioning in connection with its probe into the IPL spot-fixing scandal. Sources in the Crime Branch, which is investigating the case, said Sreesanth's e-mail account had dozens of photographs of models sent by the casting director over the past few months on request.
In some of those, he was found “moving very closely” with the models, they said, adding the cricketer's laptop also had photographs of some foreigners, who could be cheerleaders. “The director claimed that Sreesanth wanted the photographs of the models for the purpose of selecting them for advertisements to promote his company S36, which is into supplying mineral water, apparels and sports goods,” a Crime Branch officer said.
According to police, a Telugu film producer, who is believed to be in partnership with Sreesanth in the S36, has also been summoned. “In a day or two, the producer will be questioned,” the officer added. He said a person from Tamarind Tours and Travels through which the cricketer booked two rooms in 5 star Sofitel hotel in suburban Bandra was also questioned.
Sources said they are also verifying if the casting director's e-mails containing photos of the models were also sent to other cricketers.
On May 16, Mumbai Crime Branch sleuths had searched the rooms occupied by Sreesanth and Jiju Janardan, his close friend and bookie arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi police in connection with the spotfixing scandal.
The police have also obtained CCTV footages which show a number of people coming in and leaving the rooms occupied by Sreesanth and Jiju.
Apart from electronic devices, Rs 72,000 cash, data card and diaries with entries in English and Malayalam, which appeared to be in Sreesanth's handwriting, were also seized. The search of Jiju's room yielded an ipad, a mobile phone and some other belongings.
The money trail in the spot-fixing scandal is getting established with Delhi police on Monday recovering Rs 20 lakh from the home of Ajit Chandila’s aunt in Palwal, a Haryana town that’s close to Chandila’s home town, Faridabad. Early in the morning, a police team, with Chandila in tow, reached Palwal to search his aunt’s house.
The money was recovered from a cricket kit bag. Top police sources also said that the money trail in case of S Sreesanth is also close to being established. It’s learnt that the pacer went into a flurry of buying lavish gifts for his friends. The cops are trying to establish these purchases with the date around which bookies allegedly paid him.
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