CBI likely to summon Kapil

Onkar Singh in Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation team probing allegations of match-fixing in cricket is getting ready to submit its report on the scandal to the government.

"We have already committed to the government of India that we will submit the interim report by the end of next month. We are now in the process of writing our report. However, I will not be able to give you the exact date of its submission," CBI joint director R N Savani told rediff.com.

Does it mean that you will not continue with your investigations?

"We have never said that after submitting the interim report we will stop our investigations in the match-fixing case. Of course, the investigations will go on ," he declared.

Savani hinted that his team may not summon former India captain Suni Gavaskar to verify what Manoj Prabhakar is alleged to have told him during the 1994 Singer Cup tournament. "Since according to Prabhakar Sunil Gavaskar was only standing there when he spoke about Kapil Dev's offer to him there is no need to call him. As we have already examined Ravi Shastri on the matter there is no need for us to examine Sunil Gavaskar," he clarified.

He also pointed out that former India captain Kapil might be asked to appear before the CBI sometime in the next two weeks. "No date has been fixed for the meeting, but it will take place," he assured.

According to him the income tax authorities are still scrutinising the documents they found at the residences of players and BCCI officials during their raids last month.

"The main information has been coming from punters only. These punters are common for most other games as well. Majority of them belong to Gujarati and Marwari communities. Of course, there are some punters who belong to the Punjabi community as well," he explained.

He refused to comment if names of any underworld dons had cropped up during the course of the investigations.

"We are investigating match-fixing and not money laundering. But if during the course of our investigations we come across some information that is of use to some other department the same is passed on to them," he said.

Would your report indict some of the players who have been raided or whose names have been doing the rounds in media circles?

"If I tell you this then where is the need to submit the interim report," he said with a mischievous smile.

Mail Cricket Editor