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Kapil mum; Prabhakar chuckles

Onkar Singh In Delhi

Former India cricket captain Kapil Dev, whose houses and offices in Delhi and Chandigarh were raided by the Income Tax department along with those of other cricket players and administrators, Saturday refused to comment on the developments over the last two days.

He also refused to say whether he plans to quit as coach of the Indian team in wake of the raids.

"I have no comments to offer whatsoever," he told rediff.com.

However, former all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar, who was also amongst those whose premises were raided by the tax authorities, was jubilant and willing to discuss anything under the sun.

"Yes, it was a sort of surprise for me when the tax officials came knocking at my door. I am sure the others who were raided were also taken aback. I told them that I had been helping the authorities and asked why they picked on me. They said that even those who help the government could be wrong.

"They indicated that they were told that I received huge payments from a web site for making allegations against Kapil Dev. They were five of them in all, including a woman inspector. I gave them a cup of tea and asked them to feel comfortable and look into whatever documents they wanted to. It was 8.30 in the morning and after half an hour they were on the job. They continued the search operation till eight in the evening. Then they left the house," Prabhakar said.

He denied receiving any payment from the web site. "They saw all the documents both at home and in the office. They carefully screened everything they laid their hands on," he claimed.

Bookie Mukesh Gupta perhaps suffered the worst treatment. The tax authorities sealed his jewellery show room in South Extension in South Delhi on Friday amidst protests from him as well as the employees of his shop, AMS Jewellers.

"The tax evasion by Mukesh Gupta is just too much. How can a former clerk of a bank make so much of money in such a quick time. We are interested in him because he could prove to be a crucial link between the players and the bookies. Hansie Cronje also named him. We need to question the man at length," said a tax official.

Both the income tax officials and CBI officers who are investigating the match-fixing case are happy with the outcome of the raids. "When we decided to conduct the raids we thought that they had been given enough time to hide things. But with the passage of time many of them became complacent and brought back cash and other things that they had hidden earlier. The element of surprise in the timing of the raids also helped us in nabbing quite a few. Frankly, none of us expected this kind of success," admitted a senior official of the Income Tax department.

CBI joint director R N Savani was a delighted man. "The kind of evidence that has been unearthed will definitely help us in investigating the matter further," he conceded.

When will the income tax officials be able to tell whether the seized documents show any connection between players and the bookies?

"I think we should give them at least two weeks before saying anything on this matter. One thing that I can tell you right now is that there is no break in our investigations. It is continuing. We are not going to sit back and relax. On the contrary we might hasten the pace," he said.

So when are you calling Kapil Dev?

"I am not saying anything on this score. We would first examine the evidence that has emerged during the raids and then decide when to call him," he said.