The Mumbai police chargesheet in the Indian Premier League betting case includes a statement from Chennai-based hotelier Vikram Aggarwal claiming that he had arranged a darshan at Tirupati Balaji for his friend and former Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan and actor-cum-bookie Vindoo Dara Singh during the tournament.
Mr Aggarwal, while corroborating the police’s allegation that Mr Meiyappan placed bets through Mr Vindoo Dara Singh, told the police in his statement that he had arranged for a Balaji darshan on Mr Meiyappan’s insistence in the first week of May this year.
Mr Aggarwal’s name cropped up in the Mumbai police investigation after it obtained details of Mr Meiyappan’s phone-call details following his arrest on May 24 for alleged involvement in the betting scandal. The police then summoned Mr Aggarwal and asked him to be present before the investigators on May 31 for questioning.