Sreesanth, two other Rajasthan players held for spot fixing

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) India fast bowler Sreesanth as well as his Rajasthan Royals colleagues Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were arrested in Mumbai Thursday for alleged spot fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Besides the three players, Delhi Police also arrested seven bookies from Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad in connection with spot fixing, which includes bowling no-balls at pre-determined times.

"The arrests were made on the basis of phone tapping," a Delhi Police source told IANS.

While Rajasthan Royals didn't name the players, Delhi Police sources confirmed that Sreesanth, Chavan and Chandila were the three players. 

"We have been informed that three of our players have been called in for investigation on spot fixing in matches. We are completely taken by surprise. We do not have the full facts at this point and are unable to confirm anything," said Rajasthan Royals in a statement. 

"We are in touch with the BCCI on this matter. We will fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation. The management at Rajasthan Royals has a zero-tolerance approach to anything that is against the spirit of the game," the statement added.

Last year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had suspended Shalabh Srivastava, Mohnish Mishra, T.P. Sudhindra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali for spot-fixing in the IPL that was revealed in a sting operation by a TV channel. 

Spot fixing came to light in 2010 when three Pakistani cricketers Mohammad Asif, Mohammed Aamir and then skipper Salman Butt were arrested during the Test series in England. 

The trio were alleged to have carried out specific on-field actions, including bowling no-balls at pre-determined times, for payment, during the Lord's Test. The International Cricket Council (ICC) later handed them long bans and they were also convicted and sentenced to spells of detention in Britain.