India women team cricketer approached to fix matches
New Delhi, Sep 16: In an unprecedented development, a member of the India women cricket team was allegedly approached to fix matches earlier this year, prompting the BCCI's Anti-Corruption Unit to lodge an FIR against two individuals on Monday.
The alleged incident, which the player reported to the Board's ACU, took place in February, ahead of the limited-overs home series against England.
Ajit Singh Shekhawat, who heads the ACU, confirmed the development to PTI.
"She is an Indian international cricketer so the ICC conducted an inquiry into it. The ICC warned the person who made the approach and informed us and acknowledged that the cricketer has done the right thing by reporting the approach," Shekhawat said.
The ACU has registered a first-information report (FIR) with the Bengaluru police against two individuals, Rakesh Bafna and Jitendra Kothari, for the alleged approach.
"We followed that inquiry and it was much more than that. If we let that person off with a warning it doesn't make any difference at all.
"... So we went into his other links and connected the dots and we gave it to the police because we have no jurisdiction over them. We have jurisdiction only over participants. So they are going to investigate it," Shekhawat added.
The case has been registered under four sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Section 420, which pertains to cheating.
The player is said to have also recorded the conversation she had with one of the accused over the telephone.
It is learnt that the player was approached while she was undergoing recovery sessions at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, with Kothari, who introduced her to Bafna, claiming to be a sports manager.
The incident showed that women cricketers are also vulnerable to corrupt approaches like their male counterparts.
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Savarkar remarks: Rahul Gandhi appears in Pune court via video link in defamation case, gets bail
Pune, Jan 10: A special court in Pune on Friday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case related to his alleged objectionable remarks on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
The MP/MLA court granted bail to the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha on a surety bond of Rs 25,000 after he appeared before it through video conferencing, his lawyer said.
Senior Congress leader Mohan Joshi stood as surety for Gandhi (54) before the court presided over by Amol Shinde, judicial magistrate (first class) and special judge for MP/MLA cases.
Advocate Milind Pawar, representing Gandhi, said soon after his client appeared before the court, they moved a bail application.
The judge allowed the plea and granted bail to the former Congress president on a surety bond of Rs 25000, he informed.
The advocate said the court also granted permanent exemption to the Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli from appearing before it.
The case was filed on a complaint by V D Savarkar's grandnephew Satyaki, who alleged Gandhi had made defamatory remarks against the Hindutva icon at a programme he attended in London in March 2023.
Earlier, advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, representing Satyaki Savarkar, objected to Gandhi's application seeking virtual appearance.
There was no provision that allows an accused to appear in court through video conferencing before securing bail, Kolhatkar argued.
The court, however, permitted Gandhi to attend the proceedings online.
Wearing a bottle green sweater, the Congress MP appeared before the court and stated his name when the judge asked for it.
The matter will be next heard on February 18.
As per the complaint, Gandhi, while speaking at the London event, stated that Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man and he (Savarkar) felt happy.
According to the complaint, the freedom fighter had not written this anywhere and the Congress leader's remarks were aimed at defaming him.
At the time, the court had asked the Pune police to investigate the allegations and file a report.
The Vishrambaug police, after an inquiry, submitted that there was prima facie truth in the complaint.
Gandhi had skipped the previous court appearance on December 2 citing the winter session of Parliament which he was attending.
His lawyer Pawar had then assured that the opposition parliamentarian will appear in the court on January 10.
