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Azharuddin declines Indian cricketers grilled again in match-fixing inquiry
MADRAS, India (AP) -- Former cricketer Manoj Prabhakar was questioned Saturday by a top investigator who also summoned four other players accused by federal police in a match-fixing scandal. N. Madhavan, retired chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's equivalent of the FBI, said he would also examine Ajay Sharma, Nayan Mongia and Ajay Jadeja, but former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin had refused to appear before his one-man panel. "The CBI report is absolute rubbish. Let us see how fair this inquiry is," Prabhakar told reporters after the questioning in the southern city of Madras. Madhavan was appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to probe the criminal allegations in CBI's charges brought before court, in which it alleged the cricketers had accepted or entertained offers of money from bookmakers to lose matches. In New Delhi, a small group of protesters from the Hindu right-wing Shiv Sena, a partner in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ruling coalition, threw bottles and smashed a car window screen at the office of Prabhakar's wife. Police arrested three slogan-shouting protesters. In Madras, Madhavan said the remaining cricketers would be questioned over the next week. Azharuddin gave no reason for his refusal, but board officials earlier said it was not binding on players to appear before the new inquiry. The Indian cricket board has said it would consider action against the players, already excluded from the national team, after examining Madhavan's recommendations. The board enforced a code of conduct for cricketers and officials in August. It lays down stringent punishment, including a life ban, if players and officials are found guilty of betting and match-fixing. "Time permitting, I may also talk to present and past board officials," Madhavan aid. The CBI report, released last week, had also blamed the Indian cricket board for doing little about reports of match-fixing. Azharuddin, Mongia, Jadeja, Prabhakar and Sharma were accused of underperforming, betting and providing information on the pitch, weather and team strategy in test matches and limited overs games to bookmakers Nine foreign players were also named by a bookmaker, whose interviews with the police formed the bulk of the report. Madhavan said he would also cross-examine Dr. Ali Irani, the Indian team's former physiotherapist. The CBI report had accused Irani of acting as "a conduit for receiving payments on behalf of Azharuddin" from bookmakers. The Indian government ordered a CBI probe in April after the New Delhi police charged South African captain Hansie Cronje and three other players with match-fixing on the basis of monitored phone conversations with bookmakers during an Indian tour earlier this year.
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