10 people involved in spot-fixing in T20 cricket

A total of 10 people including cricketers have been found involved in the spot-fixing that reportedly took place during the recently held T20 cricket league.

Four Nepalis and six foreigners have been found involved in the scam. Of the four foreigners were in managerial roles, one cricketer and another person, Senior Superintendent of Police of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police, Dinesh Acharya said.

Two of them were arrested on Monday while further investigation is underway, with a lookout for the remaining accused.

 Among those arrested are former cricketers from Rajbiraj, Mehaboob Alam, and Mohammad Adil Ansari, a cricketer from Simraungadh in Bara. Before being brought to Kathmandu, Adil was arrested from Saptari and Mehaboob from Biratnagar.

The tournament was held at the TU cricket ground in Kirtipur from 24 December to January 11. The tournament was organized by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and India's Seven Three Sports Pvt. Ltd. was the strategic and commercial partner.

At a press conference organized by CIB in Kathmandu today, it was shared that former national player Mehaboob tried spot-fixing by tempting two Nepali cricketers. Adil was asked to bowl a 'no ball' and a 'wide ball' and it was confirmed that he did the same in two matches.

CIB spokesperson Superintendent of Police Sanjay Singh Thapa said another Nepali cricketer who played in the tournament was also asked to carry out spot-fixing in the same way. The names of the remaining eight have not been made public as they are yet to be arrested.

One foreign cricketer was found to have been instructed by the management of his team to score only specified runs in an inning. Likewise, the source of some franchise team's finances and player's salary were unknown, SP Thapa said.

It may be noted that a five-member investigation committee has been formed under the leadership of the Deputy Superintendent of Police of CIB to investigate the incident. The details revealed today were following the investigation so far by the committee.