ED, I-T to join probe with police in spot-fixing probe

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department will soon join the police probing spot-fixing in the IPL.

A senior official in the Revenue department under the Finance Ministry said the agencies will focus on the illegal cash and transactions being routed by bookies and hawala dealers and will take the final plunge of registering separate cases after finishing their preliminary enquiries. The action of the agencies will come after going through the FIRs filed by both Delhi and Mumbai police recently, the official said. Delhi Police arrested India pacer S Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for allegedly indulging in spot-fixing in at least three IPL matches as per arrangements with bookies. According to the sources, the ED, along with its money laundering probe, may also investigate the `hawala` transactions allegedly made in this case under the provisions of forex laws. The I-T will look at tax evasion by individuals and betting syndicates involved in such instances. The ED, which maintains a dossier on dealers who are suspected to be dealing in hawala money, has already started scanning operations of suspected hawala operators and dealers in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and other places. Instances like spot-fixing not only contravene forex laws but also could result in money laundering and tax evasion crimes, the official said. Initial probe inputs in IPL spot-fixing case point to possible use of illegal channel of money routing (hawala) to make payments and push illegal cash between bookies and cricketers. PTI