The BCCI has made it clear that they are keeping a watch on Ravinder Dandiwal, an Indian man who has been identified by the Australian police as the alleged kingpin of a major international tennis match-fixing syndicate.
BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) head Ajit Singh confirmed on Monday that Dandiwal, who hails from Mohali, Chandigarh, is a person of interest.
“Well, he is one of the people of interest. He has come to the adverse notice of the anti-corruption unit in a few matters,” Singh told IANS.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported last week that Victoria Police have named Dandiwal as the “central figure” in the fixing scam.
However, Singh said that BCCI cannot directly take any action against him as he is not a “participant”. “In ACU, we can only take action against participants.”
Dhaliwal is known in the Chandigarh cricket circuit and has been reportedly organizing private leagues not recognized by the BCCI.
Singh revealed that some two-three years back, Dandiwal wanted to hold a league in India which the BCCI ACU was able to disrupt.
“He is focussed more on outside the country than in India,” Singh said.
“He has associated with the Afghanistan Premier League two years ago. But then again, that’s not under our purview. He was also reportedly involved in some league in Nepal some two-three years ago. His name has come up in trying to organize leagues somewhere sometime in Bangkok as well.
“But, even though he is outside the purview of BCCI ACU, he is corrupt. So, we have to keep an eye if he is trying to contact any one of our players, which thankfully hasn’t happened.
“Nothing can be done in India as nothing on-record has happened here. It’s somewhere in Australia or Egypt, so it doesn’t invoke any jurisdiction of Indian police,” he added.
The SMH has also reported that Indian-origin Melbourne residents Rajesh Kumar and Harsimrat Singh appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates Court last week for allegedly attempting to win up to AUS$320,000 on fixed games using illegal means.
Victoria Police have charged the two with allegedly “corrupting” at least two tennis tournaments in Brazil and Egypt in 2018, the report said.
Commenting on the duo, Singh said: “Rajesh Kumar and Harsimrat Singh are based in Australia. Australian police are taking action against them. So, nothing more can be done. Another agency cannot take action under similar charges. Similarly, if this guy (Dandiwal) is involved, Australian police have the jurisdiction to take action against him.”
Explaining the role of BCCI ACU, Singh said: “We are not the police, we are an anti-corruption agency which looks after to ensure the anti-corruption code of the BCCI is followed by the participants in BCCI tournaments. Now, participants include players, ground staff, officials, and team managers, support staff. So, if they have done something wrong, we can take action against them.
“But if someone who is not a participant, there’s little we can do than keep an eye on him and his activities. We can only ensure that our participants stay insulated from him,” he added.
