Sreesanth claims innocence; police say he splurged spot-fixing money
New Delhi, May 21 (PTI): I am innocent and have done no wrong. I have never indulged in any spot fixing," suspended pacer S Sreesanth, who is an accused in the IPL spot-fixing case, today said.
In a statement emailed to the media by his lawyer Rebecca John, the cricketer said "I have never indulged in any spot fixing and I have always played cricket in the spirit of the game".
Sreesanth, who was today remanded in further five-day police custody by Metropolitan Magistrate Soumya Chauhan, said "as a cricketer, I have learnt to take knocks along with accolades, in my stride. I recognise that I am going through a tough period in my life.
"I have utmost faith in our judicial process and I am confident that with time I will be proved innocent, and my honour and dignity will be vindicated and restored," the statement said.
Dressed in a blue T-shirt and jeans, Sreesanth was apparently unmindful of the huge crowd of lawyers and mediapersons in the courtroom.
The police today also invoked section 409 IPC (criminal breach of trust) against Sreesanth, his Rajasthan Royal teammates Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandalia and 12 other accused, including bookies and mediators.
Sreesanth bought Rs.1.95 lakh-worth apparel from spot-fixing money
New Delhi, May 21 (IANS): Tainted cricketer S. Sreesanth went on a shopping spree with the money he earned from spot-fixing, buying apparel worth Rs.1.95 lakh for himself and a mobile phone costing over Rs.40,000 for his girlfriend, Delhi Police said Tuesday.
He wanted to quickly dispose of the cash which he got after fixing and apart from apparel and gifts spent it in parties, a police official told IANS.
"Sreesanth went to buy clothes from Diesel's showroom in Mumbai where he spent Rs.1.95 lakh. From the money which he got from spot-fixing, he also bought a Blackberry Z10 phone for his girlfriend," the official added.
"The cricketer made cash payment for the clothes," said the official, adding that they also examined the store manager from where he purchased the apparel.
Some of the apparel bought by Sreesanth in Mumbai and the Blackberry Z10 phone have been seized, he said.
Sreesanth along with 10 co-accused was sent to police custody by a city court.
After Sreesanth told investigators about the purchases from the money he got for spot-fixing, he was taken to Jaipur Monday evening and brought back to Delhi Tuesday to be presented in a court.
"He gifted the mobile phone to his girlfriend. We recovered it at the instance of Sreesanth. We also went to the house where Sreesanth's girlfriend lived," the official said.
The official said Sreesanth made all these purchases before the 15th Indian Premier League (IPL) match.
On Monday police recovered Rs.20 lakh of suspected spot-fixing money from a house in Haryana's Palwal. The house belonged to a relative of accused Ajit Chandila, Sreesanth's IPL teammate from Rajasthan Royals.
Three Rajasthan team cricketers -- Sreesanth, Chandila and Ankeet Chavan - and over a dozen bookies have been arrested in the ongoing investigations into the spot-fixing scam busted last week.
Meanwhile, Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh was arrested by Mumbai police Tuesday for suspected links in the spot-fixing scam in the ongoing IPL-6. He was sent to police custody till May 24 by a court in Mumbai.