BCCI claims Srinivasan spied on board officials; ICC says Thakur seen with bookie

Former BCCI president N Srinivasan could find himself facing an investigation as allegations have emerged that he spied on other BCCI members while he was board president. According to NDTV, Srinivasan reportedly used BCCI funds to pay Rs 14 crore to a London-based private agency to tap the phones of board officials and hack their e-mails. The news channel reported that board secretary Anurag Thakur will lead the probe. [caption id=“attachment_2213674” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  N Srinivasan. Reuters[/caption] In February, 2014 former IPL chairman Lalit Modi had tweeted that someone was spying on Justice Mukul Mudgal, who was in charge of the investigation into IPL spot-fixing and gambling. “What I just learnt seems straight out of a spy movie thriller. Apparently someone authorised an agency in london- 4 a 24 hour surveillance… On Retired Chief Justice Mudgal whilst he was in london. I was a secondary target. I am shocked that such a thing happened. I have now …. Asked my lawyers etc to please investigate who was behind this. What we have so far learnt is just like a spy thriller. Will say more as I get more information from my team [sic],” Modi tweeted at the time. Meanwhile, in what appears to be the drawing of battle lines, the ICC has warned the BCCI about Thakur associating with an alleged bookie, according to CNN-IBN. ICC chief executive Dave Richardson sent a letter to BCCI president Dalmiya stating that Thakur was seen with Karan Gilhotra, who is on the ACSU’s watch list. The letter apparently included photographs of Thakur cutting a cake and handing a piece to Gilhotra. The board has yet to reply to the letter, according to CNN-IBN Srinivasan and India Cements are already facing questions over their claim that the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings is worth just Rs 5 lakh. The BCCI’s Working Committee meeting was scheduled to take up the matter during its meeting today. “There are lot of grey areas in the valuation of CSK,” an IPL governing council member told PTI on Thursday. “We will get clearer picture about it after Working Comitte meeting,” India Cements is attempting to convert CSK into a trust to circumvent the Supreme Court order preventing board officials from having a commercial interest in the IPL. The I{PL franchise agreement requires a franchise owner to pay the BCCI 5 percent of the value of any share transfer, which in this case came to Rs 25,000. The board believes the value of CSK to be in the region of Rs 800 to Rs 1200 crore and that India Cements actually owes the board Rs 40 to Rs 60 crore. The BCCI could hire an independent valuer to determine the true value of CSK. That’s not all. According to India Today, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked for all the details regarding this case. The ED will also conduct a discreet examination, which will involve checking of documentation, files and rules.