Is 'Operation Gentleman' missing anyone?

Even as 'Operation Gentleman' draws to its concluding phase, searching lockers of various current and former cricketers nationwide, the mystery that sprung from another locker has gone largely unnoticed. At the end of June and the beginning of July, the contents of a locker at the Mumbai Gymkhana attracted the attention of the national media. Sunil Gavaskar, former captain of India had 'large' amounts of foreign currency stowed away in his locker. One is forced to leave the 'large' amount relatively unqualified.

When the story first broke, the amount stood at Rs 1.25 Lakhs. In a week, investigations suggested that the figure was closer to a whopping 49 lakhs. A further week later, reports suggested that the currency found was around the Rs 7 lakh mark. Through all this, Gavaskar remained remarkably low key. Not committing himself either about the contents of the locker or their origins of the same, Gavaskar let the issue lose steam.

With investigating officials being tightlipped about the affair, the matter was left unresolved.

And today, the lockers of a host of former players, current players and administrators will be opened by Income Tax officials. Although this is one time when Gavaskar will not mind being out of the limelight, the whispers have begun to do their rounds. The irregularities that were hinted at when the Bombay Gymkhana locker was opened should have created enough room for suspicion. On what basis was the list of people to be raided prepared?

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which has been investigating the matchfixing allegations that have plagued the cricket world said that it was working closely with the IT agencies. The Union Minister of State for Finance, Dhananjaya Kumar, said the other day in Bangalore "we have cogent evidence to prove their nexus in match fixing for amassing this kind of wealth. The Income Tax department has substantial evidence to prove concealment of wealth." This would indicate that the raids conducted were at least partially successful. It was also deemed that it could take upto two months for the investigations to be completed. In that case, would it not have been wise to raid all those who had given any room for suspicion? People would argue that even those who were innocent would be harassed in the event of such an investigation. This in turn begs the question, how far are agencies willing to go in order to get to the bottom of this affair?

Surely, anyone who did have anything to hide would have taken adequate measures to escape the dragnet after the recent raids. If the investigations missed someone, one would never know whether it was by accident or design.