22 yards of deceit continues.....

In the afternoon of May 16, we triumphantly addressed a press conference informing the world of the fruition of our momentous operation. The disclosures, quite expectedly, rocked the world of sports and once again numbed millions of cricket-crazy Indian fans. The Indian media got enough fodder to chew for the next fortnight. Our campaign to apprehend and book the last culprit involved in the racket carried on, taking their number to thirty six.

For us in the Delhi Police, the tide had turned in our favour, from relentless hostility of the media and adverse public opinion to benign positivity. It was both amazing and amusing to see the turn-around in the Fourth Estate. The very same celebrity anchors, senior correspondents and resident editors, who had been baying for my blood until the other day,
seeking my sack or resignation, were now pursuing me for one-to-one interviews. The same purveyors of relentless criticism and cynicism were now effusive in their praise. How the wheel had turned!

During the media frenzy, to my horror, I heard that the Hansie Cronje case registered in March, 2000 had never been charge-sheeted. Incredulous, I asked my officers in the Crime Branch to check if the news was true. After a bit of enquiry, they confirmed that the information was indeed correct. I decided to ensure that the case reaches the court within the couple of months left of my service. Thanks to the efforts of senior officers of the Crime Branch, we succeeded in filing the charge-sheet in the case in the last week of July. Five of the six accused in the case (late Hansie Cronje was the sixth) including Sanjeev Chawla, a London
based restaurateur; Krishan Kumar of T-series fame; Sunil Dara aka Bittu, a Delhi based punter cum-bookie; Rajesh Kalra and Man Mohan Khattar, both local businessmen of Delhi, were charge-sheeted and await trial.

To be continued......