Jiju Janardhanan was like Sreesanth's 'satellite': Kerala Cricket Association secretary

NEW DELHI: Kerala Cricket Association secretary TC Mathew on Sunday revealed that pacer S Sreesanth was indeed very close to Jiju Janardhanan, and called him the "satellite" of the tainted speedster.

"He (Jiju) is always around Sreesanth as a satellite. We used to see him around Sreesanth not only in Kerala but in abroad also. When Sreesanth moves in the city he is always seen in his car. May be we thought he is a close friend of Sreesanth," Mathew told a news channel.

"Being a Malayali, he is eligible to play for Kerala. That's why may be Sreesanth brought him here to help him make it to the Ranji squad," he said.

Jiju was among the 11 bookmakers arrested by the Delhi Police for alleged spot-fixing in the T20 League matches.

"We never suspected his intentions. We only watched him as a normal person. One thing people used to know about him was that he was always around Sreesanth," he added.

The Mumbai police on Saturday said that they had raided a five-star hotel and searched the rooms independently booked in name of Sreesanth and Jiju Janardhan in the city and found laptop, ipad, mobile and diary which appeared to be of the cricketer.

Addressing reporters in Mumbai, joint commissioner of police Himanshu Roy said, "We are recreating the movements of Sreesanth and Jiju on May 14th morning through CCTV footage. We shall be able to make a final comment only after analysing evidence."

The T20 domestic Cricket Leahue was dealt a massive blow when Special Cell of Delhi police arrested pacer S Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals teammates -- Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan -- on Thursday for allegedly indulging in spot-fixing in at least three IPL matches as per arrangements with bookies who are suspected to have underworld connections abroad.

Delhi Police on Sunday arrested three more in the spot-fixing scandal including a former Ranji player.

The police have asked hotels in Mumbai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Hyderabad to provide CCTV footage to scan meetings of the three arrested cricketers with bookies in connection with the spot-fixing case.

Police are also planning to seek permission for collecting voice samples of the players.

In the wake of controversy over spot-fixing in IPL matches, the sports ministry has started holding consultations with the law ministry to draft a new law to deal with betting in sports.

"Yes, I talked to (sports minister) Jitendra Singh.. We will soon draft a new law to deal with the malice of betting," law minister Kapil Sibal said in Delhi on Sunday.

He said the confidence of the people in sports is shattered when such controversies erupt.

While people think whatever is happening in the field is in the interest of the game, facts turn out to be otherwise, the minister said.