The police custody of Gurunath Meiyappan and Vindu Dara Singh were extended till June 3 in the IPL betting case here on Friday. Prosecutor Wajid Shaikh sought extension of remand as the police needed to confront them with Chennai hotelier Vikram Aggarwal, who's suspected to have links with bookie Jupiter. Aggarwal, code-named Victor by bookies, presented himself before Mumbai Crime Branch on Friday.
Investigating officer Nandakumar Gopale pleaded that the agency had confronted Meiyappan with Vindu, through whom he placed bets during the IPL games. Vindu, in turn, placed bets with wanted bookies Jupiter, Pawan Jaipur, Sanjay Jaipur and others. Meiyappan and Vindu, he said, spoke in coded language over the phone and the transcripts need to be deciphered.
Meiyappan's counsel Harshad Ponda sought clarity on his client's offence. He said: "Not even a bailable offence is made out against my client. The investigation can proceed even when he is out." Investigators recovered four SIM cards from Meiyappan, which he said were taken in the name of his company AVM Studios, and two of his staff. So, Ponda said, no forgery charge could stick.
He said the charge could be of betting, which even under the Gambling Act - which was not invoked - was bailable. Vindu's counsel too opposed any extension of remand. Additional metropolitan magistrate AA Khan said: "There has been progress in the investigation. But further interrogation is required."
0 Comments:
Post a Comment