Delhi police to send team to London
Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The Delhi police hope to be able to send a team shortly to London to
interrogate bookie Sanjeev Chawla who was arrested by Scotland Yard last
month.
While a decision in this regard was taken long ago, the police team's
departure has so far been held by lack of clearance from the ministry of
external affairs. However, the police authorities hope that in the light
of recent developments, the MEA would clear the visit.
The Delhi police are also upset that the Yard had kept them in the dark
about arresting Chawla last month. In fact, a team from the Yard had
visited Delhi recently, but no information had been passed on about
Chawla.
The local police also feels that by levelling a comparatively minor
charge of cheating against Chawla, the Yard has ensured that the bookie
will continue to stay on in London unless otherwise decided by the
courts.
K K Paul, joint commissioner, crime branch, Delhi, told rediff.com on
Monday morning: "We are getting in touch with the London police and hope
to get the latest details by this afternoon. We will decide what is to
be done only after that."
Meanwhile, Sports Minister Umar Bharti has toughened her stand on
match-fixing following the threats held out by some of the players that
they would move the court against the government's decision to withdraw
Arjuna Award from tainted cricket players. She reiterated that
match-fixing would be made a criminal offence so that nobody dared fix a
match anymore. In this respect, she cited the example of Singapore
football players who were recently sent to jail by authorities for
fixing matches.
Mail your comments