International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced that it has withdrawn umpire Asad Rauf from the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 after media reports on Wednesday indicated that the 57-year-old umpire was under investigation by Mumbai Police.
David Richardson, ICC Chief Executive said, "In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf's activities, we feel that it is in Asad's best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself, that he is withdrawn from participating in the ICC Champions Trophy."
ICC Champions Trophy 2013 will be staged in England and Wales from 6-23 June.
Currently the Mumbai Police is questioning him.
Reports suggest that tainted actor Vindoo Dara Singh disclosed Rauf's name.
Meanwhile,according to media reports, Kolkata Police arrested ten bookies on Thursday from Kolkata. They will now be produced in the Sealdah court today.
Earlier in the day, Mumbai Police reached Chennai with the objective of questioning Chennai Super Kings 'principal' Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of team owner and Board of Control for Cricket in India president N Srinivasan, in connection with the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal.
Meiyappan's name is figuring prominently in the interrogation of all those arrested so far, including Bollywood and television actor Vindoo Dara Singh.
Gurunath Meiyappan's questioning would revolve around his links with Vindoo and if he was involved in betting or was passing inside information about matches.
"Based on the outcome of the questioning, we will decide whether his actions fall under the domain of impropriety or invite legal action," the officer said yesterday.
Vindoo, interrogators said, has revealed that he was in touch with Gurunath during the ongoing T20 season - a fact corroborated by his call records. Police are trying to find out what the two spoke about.
Vindoo, allegedly linked to several bookies and cricketers, told the police he was introduced to Gurunath four-five years ago in Chennai by Anand Saxena, a Delhi-based bookmaker, and became friends with him. He claimed he went to Chennai to watch a match on Gurunath's invitation.
The small-time actor has revealed that he made crores from betting on T20 matches, and his take-home from this season was Rs. 17 lakh.
On Chandila's involvement in the racket, an officer said, "Chandila received Rs. 25 lakh for the May 5 match from one set of bookies, Rs. 15 lakh for the May 17 match from another and Rs. 9 lakh from a third set of bookies. Of this, he had to return Rs. 20 lakh for the first match since he forgot to give the pre-decided signal before bowling."
(with inputs from IANS and ANI)
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