Chennai: CB-CID sleuths on Friday filed a chargesheet against suspended IPS officer Sampath Kumar on charges of allegedly collecting bribe to let off some of the persons involved in the sensational Indian Premier League (IPL) bookies scam. The 100-page chargesheet was filed in the X1 metropolitan magistrate court on Friday against Sampath Kumar, bookie Mahendra Singh Ranka and two others. The suspended police officer is also charged under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, CB-CID sources said.
Sampath Kumar, then a superintendent of police (SP) in the ‘Q’ branch of the Tamil Nadu police, was the whistleblower of IPL betting among the investigators who unearthed the bookies scam in 2013. The trail, which began with investigations by Delhi police, subsequently led to Chennai wherein names of several prominent cricketers and then BCCI president, N. Srinivasan’s son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, surfaced to be part of the scam.
However, the CB-CID, which took over the case from Sampath Kumar, alleged that the officer, during his tenure as investigating officer, collected bribe from a few bookies to hold back the involvement of a few persons in the scam. Following a report, Sampath Kumar has been placed under suspension since February 2014.The officer had denied the charges claiming he only took a loan from one of bookies and he was being targeted for trying to expose CB-CID’s biased probe. He was chosen by the Supreme Court-appointed Mudgal committee to assist investigations into the IPL betting.
