BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur on Monday chose to make public his displeasure with the former Board president, N. Srinivasan’s efforts to malign him on the day the working committee met in Kolkata.
In a letter to Mr. Srinivasan, he said: “The BCCI has received intimation from the ICC, ostensibly under your direction, that I should keep away from one Mr. Karan Gilhotra who is a ‘suspect bookie.’ The intimation further states the information is unverified.”
The International Cricket Council, headed by Mr. Srinivasan, had cautioned the BCCI, through an email on April 22, that Mr. Gilhotra was on the radar of the Anti Corruption and Security Unit, and he was found socialising with Mr. Thakur.
In his strongly worded response, Mr. Thakur said: “I have earlier been the joint secretary of the BCCI under your presidentship, and I am now secretary. I wish that you had shared the list of ‘unverified suspected bookies’ with me and other colleagues so that we could identify such persons and keep away from them. I have known this person who has been active in the political and cricketing activities in Punjab and adjacent States. I had no knowledge of or any clue to his ‘activities as a suspected bookie’.”
A picture, showing Mr. Thakur and Mr. Gilhotra together, was also circulated. “It is curious that intimation about my having known this ‘suspected bookie’ was brought to the ICC’s notice by your friend Mr. Neeraj Gunde,” said Mr. Thakur.
Share list of suspect bookies: Anurag
In a strongly worded letter BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur has requested Board President N. Srinivasan to “at least now share with me or other colleagues in the BCCI the list of suspected bookies in India, so that we may keep away from them.”
In a letter to Mr. Srinivasan, he said: *The BCCI has received intimation from the ICC, ostensibly under your direction, that I should keep away from one Mr. Karan Gilhotra who is a ‘suspect bookie.’ The intimation further states the information is ‘unverified.’ In a veiled reference to Mr. Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, Mr. Thakur advised Mr. Srinivasan to “also share this information with your family members, whose involvement in betting has been proved.
Mr. Thakur concluded: “Since the ICC advisory to me had been made public, I would be making this letter public.”
No comments: Srinivasan
S Dinakar reports from Chennai:
When contacted by The Hindu , Mr. Srinivasan refused to comment on the issue. He indicated that he would convey his views to Mr. Thakur personally rather than through the media.
