Kathmandu, March 9
Three people arrested for spot-fixing during the Nepal T20 League have been released on bail.
Kathmandu District Court judge Rajendra Kumar Shrestha released them on bail of Rs 300,000 each as the police could not find evidence that these people did take money to fix matches.
Following the order, cricketer Adil Ansari, former cricketer Mehboob Alam and local cricketer Nitesh Gupta have submitted the bail amount and have been released.
A case had been registered at the Kathmandu District Court against five people for their role in spot-fixing during the controversial Nepal T20 League.
The investigation conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) led by DSP Sundar Tiwari revealed that former national cricketer Mehboob Alam and Jatin Ahluwalia, the owner of Seven3Sports, a business and strategic partner of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), offered players for fixing in the league matches.
During the investigation conducted by the CIB, an audio recording was found, in which Alam tried to lure the players by offering them Rs 3.6 million for fixing six matches.
In the statement given to the police by Alam at Government Attorney’s Office in Kathmandu, he reportedly admitted to approaching players for spot-fixing.
The police had proof that Ansari threw one no-ball and one wide-ball after being asked to do so by a person called Samir Sheikh via WhatsApp. He was offered Rs 100,000 for doing so.
But Ansari told the police he bowled the no-ball and wide-ball by accident. As the money was not a lot, he felt the person on WhatsApp was joking.
According to sources, all three changed their statement during the hearing at Kathmandu District Court.
