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WorldTel chief's offices raided in Bangalore

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

As part of the day-long nationwide raids on houses of cricketers, officials, and bookies, the Income Tax authorities searched the offices of WorldTel chief Mark Mascarenhas in Bangalore on Thursday.

Disclosing this at a hurriedly convened press meet here, Union Minister of State for Finance Dhananjaya Kumar said the raiding parties had also sealed 16 bank lockers as part of seizures.

"The raids were conducted in tandem with the Central Bureau of Investigation in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedbad and Chandigarh and incriminating documents seized," the minister added.

No raids were conducted on the homes of Bangalore-based Test cricketers Javgal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid.

A major operation was on in Hyderabad, at the residence of former captain Mohammed Azharuddin, who is away in London on a personal visit. Of the 16 lockers sealed, six were in Mumbai.

"Mascarenhas' office in Bangalore was searched in swift raid," the minister said. The minister said they had information that Mascarenhas was involved in match-fixing and even went to the extent of calling the WorldTel chief a 'bookie'.

Kumar also revealed that the houses of Azharuddin's wife Sangeeta Bijlani and Kapil Dev's wife Romi were also searched. "Friends and relatives of those suspected have also been interrogated," he added.

The minister, however, denied rumours that the houses of former captain Sachin Tendulkar and cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar were searched, or that their role in match fixing or tax evasion was under scrutiny. Even Manoj Prabhakar and former opener Navjot Siddu were not in the raiding list," he clarified

The minister warned that nobody involved in either match fixing or betting would be spared.

Meanwhile, Mascarenhas told Star News from his Connecticut headquarters that he was 'amused' by the minister's remarks linking him to bookies.

He said the minister had no grasp of the situation and he would pay the consequences for his remarks, legally.

Confirming the IT raid on his office, Mascarenhas said his company has nothing to hide and would co-operate with the authorities.

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