BOMBAY, 22 November 2005 — The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), the premier investigating agency of the federal government, has begun to weave a web around past and present Indian cricketers as well as film actors and actress after a sustained interrogation of Abu Salem.
The alleged Bombay blast accused reportedly told the interrogators that apart from the match-fixing roles of the cricketers and money from the film stars, he was financially helped in Portugal through his links with a former Indian cricket captain and his actress wife.
A CBI source told Arab News that initially Abu Salem refused to admit the alleged links of the cricketer and his actress wife, but when he was confronted with a taped conversation which Abu Salem had with the cricketer, he confessed that both the cricketer and his wife had links with the underworld. This revelation by Abu Salem is going to open a Pandora’s box and the CBI is now focusing on the links between cricketers, bookies and the underworld.
The former cricketer had departed from the cricketing scene after being found guilty on charges of match-fixing.
A Bollywood source said the cricketer got involved in match-fixing and married the film actress following threats that he would be eliminated if he does not play to the tunes of the bookies, and it is alleged that these threats originated from the brothers of the actress who were key players in cricket match-fixing.
Once in their trap, the cricketer was left with no alternative but to obey the command of the bookies and the underworld, the source said. According to police sources, the CBI has been tapping the telephone of the cricketer and the actress for past few years, following confirmed intelligence reports of their involvement with Abu Salem.
The CBI monitored the bank transactions of Salem, the cricketer and the film actress, and found that the cricketer and his wife have been laundering money for Abu Salem and also taking care of his expenses in Portugal, prior to his extradition to India two weeks ago.
The sources also alleged that Abu Salem had kept a large amount of money with the cricketer and his wife, who in turn used to remit the money to the underworld don in Portugal for his expenses.
There are other cricketers, actors and actresses, film financiers and producers, who have paid Abu Salem and helped him in other ways too, said informed sources.
With the CBI tightening the noose around the cricketer and his actress wife, sources say that in the coming days, there is the possibility of the duo being arrested. Their interrogation could reveal more about the links of cricketers and the Bollywood fraternity with the underworld.
