Vindoo relied on Meiyappan's inside info for betting
In one of the intercepted conversations on May 12, Meiyappan told Vindoo that his team was going to score between 130 and 140 runs on that day.
Accordingly, Meiyappan placed bets against his own team and on the victory of Rajasthan Royals, while Vindoo further shared the information with other bookies. CSK made 141 runs against Rajasthan Royals and lost the match.
In another instance, on May 13, Meiyappan informed Vindoo that Hyderabad Sunrisers were going to win that day’s match against Mumbai Indians. However, the Hyderabad franchise lost the match that day.
On May 14, the police has intercepted four conversations between Vindoo and Meiyappan. In the first conversation at 9.59 am, Meiyappan told Vindoo that the match between his team and Delhi Daredevils at M.A. Chidambaram stadium would be cancelled, as the Chennnai stadium did not have the stadium stability certificate.
However, the match was not cancelled. When Vindoo called Meiyappan back at 2.44 pm, he was upset to find out that the CSK team principal was on his private luxury yacht. “You are the boss. Go there. What those people are thinking, I want exactly (sic)” Vindoo is heard telling Meiyappan.
Later, at 7.26 pm, Vindoo asked Meiyappan about the toss. At that time, Meiyappan said, “We win 100 per cent”. In the fourth call at 7.53 pm, Meiyappan informed Vindoo that there were “no other changes in the team”. This conversation took place a few minutes before the match started.
The crime branch has also relied upon two emails sent by IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla to Meiyappan in the capacity of CSK team owner. The emails were sent on December 24, 2011 and January 9, 2012.
Meiyappan has been charged under Sections 465 (forgery), 466 (forgery of record of court or of public register), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 490 (breach of contract), 420 (cheating), 212 (harbouring the offender), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meiyappan is also charged with Section 3 (Penalty for owning or keeping, or having charge of a gaming) and 4 (Penalty for being found in gaming) of the Gambling Act and Section 66A (Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service) of the IT Act. In addition, the police has charged him with Section 130 (cheating at games) read with Section 415 and 417 (punishment for cheating).
The chargesheet saw statements of 205 witnesses and 61 panchnamas. To gather evidence, the police visited Jaipur, Sujangarh, Kokha, Delhi, Bhatinda, Goa, Chennai and Pune. The police also examined 12 voice samples, whose reports are not yet submitted before the court.
Judge Padwad has set the next date of the hearing on November 21.
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