IPL betting: IPS officer acquitted in bribery case

CHENNAI: IPS officer G Sampath Kumar, accused of taking bribe from bookies in the IPL betting scam in 2014, was acquitted of all charges by a special court here on Friday.
Pronouncing the orders, special judge J Omprakash said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against Sampath Kumar and three others. The court also ordered the CB-CID to return the money seized from the accused, along with appropriate interest.
According to the prosecution, Sampath Kumar, then superintendent of police in the ‘Q’ branch of the Tamil Nadu police, was the whistle blower of IPL betting and among investigators who unearthed the scam in 2013.
The probe, which began with investigations by the Delhi police, subsequently led to Chennai wherein names of several prominent cricketers and the then BCCI president N Srinivasan’s son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan surfaced.
Subsequently, the CB-CID took over the case from Sampath Kumar on the basis of the allegation 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. He was placed under suspension.
In 2014, CB-CID registered a case against Sampath Kumar claiming he collected bribe to let off some of the persons involved in the IPL scam. He was charged of offences under sections 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of IPC and sections 13(1)(d), 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act.
Five years after the trial commenced, the special court on Friday concluded the hearing and passed the order. Noting that the prosecution has failed to prove the charges framed against any of the accused, the special judge acquitted all the four-accused including Sampath Kumar.