Talks between Batohi and Delhi police deadlocked

Joint Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation R N Savani, who is supervising investigations into the match fixing scandal, told rediff.com that Sharmila Batohi, chief prosecutor of the Edwin King Commission will visit the agency's headquarters Wednesday afternoon and share information.

Meanwhile, the second meeting between the Delhi police and the representatives of the commission, investigating allegations against South African players, ended in a deadlock.

Crime branch officials insisted that the South African government should hand over voice samples of Hansie Cronje and Benjo Cassim, while Batohi insisted that they hand over the Cronje tapes first.

In fact, contradictory reports about the meeting created confusion. Crime branch chief Pradeep Srivastav insisted that there was no meeting. However, joint commissioner of police Dr K K Paul told newsmen that he attended one in Chanakyapuri.

"I don't know what transpired because I was there only for 45 minutes. They handed over some documents to us. The meetings will continue as Batohi is likely to be in Delhi till September 23," Paul told rediff.com.

Delhi police chief Ajay Raj Sharma too expressed ignorance about the outcome. "I welcomed her because she was coming from a foreign country. Other meetings will take place between junior officials and Batohi," he said.

Asked where the hitch was, a senior police officer said, "We want them to give us voice samples. She said the matter is pending before the superior court. Our request has been pending since April. How can we hand over the tapes without verifying the voice? They have to give us a voice sample first so that we can approach the court to break the seal and compare the voice. This is going to take time. What can we do? Their teams come here to investigate but we cannot send our team because of bureaucratic procedures," he said.

It is now known that Batohi came to Delhi via Bombay where she spent two days talking to players and other people. " She came to India on September 14 and landed in Delhi only on September 17," another officer of Delhi police told newsmen.

Mail Cricket Editor