da apostaganha： After having carried out an investigation of the nexus between playersand bookmakers last year, the CBI has now initiated a probe into theliaison between bookies and the underworld mafia
Staff and Agencies17-Jun-2001* CBI begins probe into nexus between bookies and underworldAfter having carried out an investigation of the nexus between playersand bookmakers last year, the CBI has now initiated a probe into theliaison between bookies and the underworld mafia. The CBI’s SpecialCrime Branch is making steady progress and preliminary inquiriessuggest that some bookies were acting at the behest of the underworldto fix matches, agency sources told PTI in New Delhi.According to the sources, the probe had begun during the tenure offormer CBI Director RK Raghavan who held a series of meetings withofficials of security and intelligence agencies for information on theactivities of the underworld. The Mumbai Police and the Directorate ofRevenue Intelligence (DRI) apparently stumbled on conversationsbetween players and the underworld back in 1995 but the DRI haswritten to the CBI to the effect that it was not in possession of anytapes.The underworld’s involvement is borne out by the testimonies of formerIndian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin and the team’s formerphysiotherapist Ali Irani in which names of mafia dons Anees Ibrahim,Abu Salem and Sharad Shetty found mention. According to the CBIreport, submitted on October 31 last year, Azharuddin admitted duringhis questioning that Abu Salem had called him on a couple of occasionsto fix matches but he had refused the overtures. In its report, theCBI had warned that the underworld mafia could be expected to taketotal control of the betting racket unless it was checked immediatelywith a stern hand.* Vece Paes makes foray into cricket therapyHockey’s loss will in all probability be cricket’s gain. The CricketAssociation of Bengal is contemplating a decision to employ formerIndian hockey Olympian Dr. Vece Paes as the chief physical instructorof the Bengal cricket team. Dr. Paes will also be asked to supervisethe physical training of the under-14, under-16 and under-19 squads.It should be mentioned here that when Arun Lal was the coach of theBengal team, he had asked the CAB to employ Dr. Paes. The CAB,however, had turned down his proposal.Dr. Paes, who is the father of tennis star Leander Paes, has beenassociated with various sports persons in West Bengal as a physicaltrainer. In the past he had also trained a couple of local clubcricket teams. He is quite an experienced person as far as physicaltraining is concerned. A move is also afoot to induct Dr. Paes to theNational Cricket Academy.In a recent meeting of the Asian Cricket Council, Chairman, JagmohanDalmiya had placed a paper compiled by Dr Paes, on the physicalaspects of cricket. A source within the CAB said that representativesof Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh were impressed with thesuggestions of the doctor and that Dr. Paes may be appointed in somecapacity with the Asian Cricket Council.* Assam Cricket Academy begins session from todayThe following players have been selected to the Assam Cricket Academywhich will be in session from 17th June 2001 at the Nehru Stadium,Guwahati. The list of selected players is as follows :Under 19 Years: Khanin Saikia, Himadri Sekhar Das, Chandan Rawat,Diganta Dowrah, Dibankur Kalita, Jibon Jyoti Rajkhowa, Binod Sinha,Mihir Lal Barman, Kunal Roy, Bichitra Baruah, Abhishek Hore, SudarshanBhattacharjee, Rabin Das, Pablu Momin, Rajindra Mahato, Amit Basfor,Vishal Jain, Sukumar Barman, Kumarjit Sengupta and Arab Ali.Under 16 Years: Dinesh Mahanta, Sadek Imran Choudhury, JyotimoySaikia, Nekibul Hauque, Sukumar Barman, Dibyajyoti Barman, Ajay Kumar,Subh Kuldip, Baishya Pegu, Utpal Medhi, Prakash Bhagat, Parviz Aziz,Nayan Jyoti Deka, Trishul Mazumdar, Debajit Baruah, Tonmoy Dey,Ibrahim Nawaz and Utpal Hazarika.Under 14 years: Sarupam Purkayastha, Parvez Yassir Hussain, GitharthaBordoloi, Ibrahim Ali, Ram Kripal Gupta, Jami Kameshwar Rao,Dibyajyoti Dutta, Narandra Bharali, Arijit Sengupta, Misthun Biswas,Sekhar Jyoti Barman, Satish Nimudia, Rinku Ahmed, Minmoy Deb, ParthaJyoti Gogoi.