N Srinivasan’s ICC informs BCCI about Anurag Thakur meeting alleged bookie

It was a day of punching and counter-punching between International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman N Srinivasan and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur.

Allegations flew thick and fast on Sunday, which, incidentally, saw the new dispensation of the board holding its first working committee meeting. However, two distinct developments hogged the media space. Ironically, neither issue was discussed in the Kolkata meeting. READ: BCCI unlikely to act on Anurag Thakur-bookie issue

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First, Thakur was in for some embarrassment after the ICC, chaired by the Chennai-based cement baron, informed the Indian board that the BJP leader was pictured with an individual whose name “appears in the database” of the world body’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).

Almost immediately, news emerged from BCCI corridors that Srinivasan, the former board president, had extracted money from the board’s coffers — Rs 14 crore at that — and hired a London-based spy agency to snoop on other BCCI officials. Reports said Thakur would investigate the matter.

The person Thakur was pictured with is one Karan Gilhotra, a Chandigarh-based businessman. In his letter to BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, ICC chief David Richardson wrote that according to “unverified information”, Gilhotra was seen trying to “befriend players and support staff during the 2014 IPL” and that there were “rumours, again unverified, about his involvement in betting on cricket”. READ: N Srinivasan in fresh controversy as allegations of spying on BCCI members surface

Richardson, who represented South Africa in 42 Tests and 122 ODIs in the 1990s, added that Ravi Sawani, (former) director of the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, advised “all IPL franchise managers” to ensure that Gilhotra “was not entertained by any of their squad members”.

A copy of this letter was marked to Srinivasan. The person who wrote to the ICC about Thakur’s proximity to Gilhotra is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist Niraj Gunde. The pictures show Thakur cutting a cake, Gilhotra feeding Thakur a piece of cake and Thakur returning the favour. dna is in possession of all documents.

This newspaper’s attempts to contact Thakur didn’t bear fruit, but Gilhotra was more than happy to share his version of the story.

“I can only laugh at this. I have already sent a notice to the ICC for mentioning my name in their database. I have never received any communication from the ICC, the BCCI or any IPL franchise in this regard. I am a cricket lover. I am a social person and I love to meet and interact with people.

“I know Anurag for more than 10 years. The pictures being circulated in the media were clicked at my wedding anniversary party in Chandigarh last month. Do you think Anurag, a sitting MP of the BJP, will be associated with a person involved in illegal activities? Just because I know people and party with them, it doesn’t mean I am involved in any wrongdoing,” Gilhotra said.

For the record, Gilhotra is a regular on the Chandigarh party scene. A product of the prestigious Mayo College (Ajmer), he is reportedly close to several Bollywood stars, cricketers and IPL franchise officials. He has posted several pictures with them on his Facebook page.

A source close to Srinivasan slammed Dalmiya “for sleeping on the matter”. However, when asked what he had to say about the “snooping” charge, the source said, “How could he have access to the BCCI’s funds? You must remember that he had stepped aside in March 2014.”

Neither the BCCI nor the ICC issued any further clarification.

(The writer is Principal Correspondent at DNA, where the above article first appeared)