Three Cricket Players Arrested on Spot-Fixing Charges

Manjunath Kiran/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images A demonstration in Bangalore, Karnataka, on Thursday against the alleged involvement of three cricketers in spot fixing.

NEW DELHI- Three Indian Premier League players and 11 bookmakers have been arrested on charges of spot fixing in cricket matches, the Indian police said Thursday.

Delhi's police chief, Neeraj Kumar, said at a news conference in New Delhi that S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, all representing the Rajasthan Royals team of the Indian Premier League, were taken into custody early Thursday morning, along with 11 bookmakers who lived in different towns across India.

Spot fixing differs from match fixing in that certain details of plays are fixed, rather than the outcome of the match. The police said all three cricketers, who are bowlers, were paid 4 million to 6 million rupees ($73,000 to $109,000) to send a predetermined signal to the bookmakers before they threw their second over. The player would then throw the over loosely to give at least 14 runs, the police said.

“After receipt of the signal from the bowler, the bookmakers would bet heavily and make huge profits,” said Mr. Kumar. The predetermined signals included wearing a wristband in a particular manner, putting a hand towel on the front of the waist and pulling a locket out from a shirt.

Mr. Kumar said more arrests of bookmakers are likely. He also said the police seized 51 mobile phones, five laptops and one recording machine.

Andrew Yates/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images S. Sreesanth at a practice session at The Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, England on Aug. 9, 2011.

The Royals picked up Mr. Sreesanth in 2012 for $400,000. Mr. Chavan first started playing for the Royals in the 2011 season, and Mr. Chandila in the 2012 season.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, or B.C.C.I. immediately suspended the three players and promised to deal with them severely if they are found guilty. “The B.C.C.I. is shocked and saddened at the recent developments,” it said in a statement. “The B.C.C.I. has zero tolerance to corruption.”

The Indian sports minister, Jitender Singh, said in a statement that, “strict action be taken against all those who are found guilty to serve as a deterrent to others.”

Sharad Pawar, the former head of the Indian cricket board and of the International Cricket Council, said on Thursday that the three players should be banned for life if they are found guilty.

Fixing scandals have plagued Indian cricket over the years. The fast pace of the type of cricket that the Indian Premier League plays, Twenty20, makes it easier to fix certain elements of play.

A former captain of the Indian national team, Mohammad Azharuddin, who is now a member of Parliament, was found guilty of match fixing in 2000 and was initially banned for life by the Indian cricket board. That ban was overturned by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in November 2012 after the court ruled that the board's action was illegal.