Alleged Indian bookie extradited from UK

NEW DELHI: Sanjeev Chawla, an alleged bookie, was extradited from the UK on Thursday. He is one of the primary accused in the 2000 match-fixing scandal that involved former South African captain Hansie Cronje.

Chawla’s extradition was sought by the Delhi police, who had filed a chargesheet in 2013, naming him along with five others including the late Cronje, for conspiracy to cheat. Apart from Chawla and Cronje, the other accused were: Rajesh Kalra, Krishan Kumar, Sunil Dara - all three based in India - and Manmohan Khattar, who is believed to be living overseas.

The Delhi police had sought Chawla’s extradition because of his alleged involvement in the match-fixing controversy which eventually implicated Cronje, who confessed during the King Commission inquiry to accepting money from bookies to fix matches during South Africa’s ODI series in India in 2000.

Chawla’s extradition was approved by the UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid in February last year under the India-UK Extradition Treaty 1992. On Thursday, Chawla landed in Delhi accompanied by the team of the Delhi police’s crime branch. He will be housed in Delhi’s Tihar jail ahead of his trial. Chawla’s acquisition is a major shot in the arm for the cops and has re-opened the investigation that shook cricket at the turn of the millennium. Cronje’s links to the bookies were unearthed by an investigating officer Ishwar Singh, who was probing an unrelated extortion case in early 2000.

Upon further investigations, the Delhi Police found that Cronje had persuaded some of his team-mates to agree to underperform in an ODI in 2000 during the India tour. Subsequently, batsman Herschelle Gibbs and bowler Henry Williams were banned for six months each.