CBI sleuths swoop again on Dalmiya

A day after the former ICC President Jagmohan Dalmiya had praised the efforts of the CBI for unearthing the match-fixing scandal, his house and office were raided once more by the sleuths of the Bureau. The officers of the CBI, who raided Dalmiya's house at the Alipore Road today were on the lookout for papers regarding television rights of various tournaments.

The raid was conducted peacefully and lasted for a little over six hours. Two CBI officers from Delhi along with local officials in Calcutta conducted the entire raid. During the raid, they questioned the former ICC President on various tournaments. However, what was really surprising was that the officials did not limit their questioning to cricket only. They asked him about the rights acquired by Doordarshan for the telecast of Wimbledon too.

The CBI wanted Mr. Dalmiya to submit the following documents; a) Papers related to correspondence of Doordarshan with Stracon regarding Wimbledon 1997 and the ICC Knockout 1998; b) Papers related to correspondence of Doordarshan with World Tel for the rights of Independence Cup 1997 and ICC Knockout 1998 c) Papers related to correspondence of Doordarshan with UTV regarding Independence Cup 1997 d)Papers related to correspondence of Doordarshan with ICC and IDI regarding purchase of television rights for ICC Knockout 1998 e)Papers related to purchase/sale of telecast/marketing rights of different sports tournaments f) Other documents related to the above.

Mr. Dalmiya showed the officers whatever documents that were available to him as a former ICC President. However, regarding documents about Doordarshan's correspondence with various other companies he expressed his helplessness in providing them. Later on at a press conference at his office, Mr. Dalmiya said, "How can I have copies of correspondence that took place between Doordarshan and Stracon. The CBI people should look for these documents from the people and organization which has exchanged them." He also added that he had nothing to show regarding the acquiring of television rights for Wimbledon. "I've never been involved in that sport," said Dalmiya.