Bigger fish in IPL spot-fixing: BJP
In view of the arrest of three cricketers on spot-fixing charges, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday alleged that activities like betting and fixing are not possible without the involvement of higher officials of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The party has demanded investigation into the possible involvement of higher-ups and has asked the government to reconsider its decision to allow the IPL to continue in the future.
Party spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said that betting and fixing are the two sides of the same coin. “Such activities are not possible without the support or involvement of the higher officials. We believe that there are some higher officials, who are possibly encouraging such acts and the police should probe from that angle too,” he said.
The BJP leader stated three incidents related to the IPL tournament. He said that some days ago three bookies were arrested in Nagpur. In another incident, a person who has lost lakhs of rupees in IPL betting, brutally murdered his 13-year-old cousin Aditya Ranka,
in an attempt extort money from his father and repay the debts, but was arrested by the police. “Though all these three incidents are different, they are very related to the betting going in the IPL. The IPL has now become Immoral Practice League and taking this into consideration, the government should reconsider disallowing the IPL in the future,” Mr Bhandari said.
Significantly, the BJP is opposing the IPL since it was started. The party on many occasions raised issues such as waiving off the entertainment taxes by the state government and non-payment of security fees by the IPL. In March, senior party leader and Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Vinod Tawde has written a letter to IPL commissioner Rajiv Shukla asking him to shift all the IPL matches to another state in view of the current drought.
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