Ankeet Chavan gets bail till June 6

Ankeet Chavan, the Rajasthan Royals bowler who was arrested on allegations of spot-fixing, has been granted conditional bail till June 6 by a Delhi court. Chavan had sought bail on the grounds that his wedding was scheduled for June 2.

Chavan had to deposit two sureties of Rs 1 lakh (US$1780) each and a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with the court before he was released.

"By denying the accused [bail] to solemnise marriage which is already fixed, not only he but also the would-be bride and other relatives would suffer for no fault of theirs," the judge said.

He was one of three Royals cricketers - Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila being the others - arrested on May 16, following which they were suspended by the BCCI pending an inquiry. Sreesanth has been remanded to judicial custody till June 4.

Royals had suspended the contracts of all three players and also filed a police complaint against them. The players were allegedly promised money ranging from US$36,000 to 109,000 by bookies for each over of under-performance.

Eleven bookies were also arrested along with the three players on May 16. One of the middlemen was identified as Jiju Janardhan, described by the police as Sreesanth's close friend and team-mate at the Ernakulam club. Delhi Police had registered cases under the Indian Penal Code section 420 and 120B, which deal with fraud, cheating, and criminal conspiracy.