22 yards of deceit continues......

(It is pointless for me to repeat who did what or didn’t for MK, in return for considerations, small or big, cash or kind; the details were sordid, to say the least.) In the interim, MK had fallen out with Manoj Prabhakar over money. MK suspected Manoj had begun to ‘work’ for other bookies as well. MK again turned to Ajay Sharma, his long term ‘investment’, who introduced MK to the Indian Captain Azharuddin, and the rest is history.

What shocked me further was MK’s revelation about umpires, physiotherapists, sports journalists and grounds-men, who, as he said, could all be compromised for a price. He gave specific examples of how he had done it on different occasions. I realized MK was a prize catch and a gold mine of information on the underbelly of the game of cricket. My organization, the CBI, would only be too happy to tap into MK, the fountainhead of all ills that plagued cricket.

MK had his conditions, though. He should not be subject to third degree and rough and ready treatment by officers dealing with him. I assured him that the CBI doesn’t indulge in any such tactics.

As the conversation between MK and me progressed, I gradually realized that the other men present in the suite were all big-time bookies owing allegiance to MK. They treated

MK with due deference. Their names elude my failing memory, except for one called Vinod Chembur. He was, and perhaps still is, a big-time bookie from the Chembur area of Bombay. There was another one from Indore, one from Jaipur and so on. Presumably, they were all there to lend moral support to their big boss as he had decided to come clean before a CBI officer.

To be continued.....