Shilpa Shetty bet Rs 1 Lakh in IPL match: Delhi Police

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New Delhi, Jun 7, 2013: Actress Shilpa Shetty placed bets of Rs one lakh for an IPL match, Delhi Police claimed today even as investigators said they do not believe her husband and co-owner of Rajasthan Royals Raj Kundra’s statement that he lost Rs one crore in betting.

Kundra and Shilpa have denied allegations against them. Police sources said they may quizz Kundra again and call Shilpa for questioning if there is a need.

The names of Kundra, who was questioned for 11 hours two days ago by police claiming that he had confessed to betting, and Shilpa, came in a statement recorded by his business partner Umesh Goenka, a bookie, during investigations into IPL spot-fixing scandal.

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said Kundra remains "very much" part of the investigation. However, he added, Kundra was "not the focus" of their probe as there is no evidence as of now to suggest that he was into spot-fixing.

Police sources said Kundra had claimed during questioning that he lost Rs 50 lakh in betting during IPL IV season, Rs 40 lakh in IPL V and Rs 12.5 lakh in the just concluded IPL VI.

"We do not buy this argument. He had told us that he placed bets on matches played by Rajasthan Royals. In this season, his team won 11 out of the 16 matches it played and it is hard to believe that he lost money in betting," a senior police official said.

Asked about Shilpa, he said Goenka claimed that the actress placed a bet of Rs one lakh. "We are verifying all these claims," he said.

Kumar denied allegations that Kundra was given special treatment by police.

Asked about Delhi Police not invoking Gambling Act like its Mumbai counterparts which charged Vindoo Dara Singh and Gurunath Meiyappan, he said they do not have supporting evidence to arrest Kundra.

"We don’t have supporting material evidence. I do not know the details of Mumbai Police’s investigations. So I cannot comment on them. But we will go after somebody only if we have material evidence to back our investigations," the Police Commissioner said.

Kumar said Kundra is not the focus of their investigation and that he happened to figure in disclosure statements of some people. "That’s why we thought it prudent to speak to him," he said.

"We are yet to decide on Shilpa. We always keep our options open. Ours is not a short term investigation which are going to close in the next two or three days. It’s going to take time. Let us see how things unfold," he said.

Players S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested on charges of spot-fixing during the recent IPL tournament after which they were suspended by Rajasthan Royals.

Delhi Police had earlier created a stir by claiming that Sreesanth and the two other players had acted at the "command" of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Shakeel, among India’s most wanted, as it invoked the stringent MCOCA against 23 accused in the case.