The “mystery woman” who reportedly walked away with documents from IPL chairman Lalit Modi's hotel suite minutes before income-tax officials raided the place on Thursday evening was the stepdaughter of liquor baron Vijay Mallya - Laila Mahmood.
While Laila is in charge of the IPL's public relations services and is part of Modi's core group, among her colleagues in the IPL is Poorna Patel, the 24-year-old daughter of civil aviation minister Praful Patel. Poorna looks after IPL's marketing services and hospitality, reports The Telegraph, Kolkata.Laila and Poorna, said IPL sources, were closely involved with the bidding process for the two new teams.
Laila, 26, is the daughter of Vijay Mallya's wife Rekha from an earlier marriage and works closely with Modi. Mallya, the owner of the Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team, has adopted her.
A spokesperson for Kingfisher, one of the flagship brands of Mallya's United Breweries, sent out a statement from the “king of good times” when asked about Laila's involvement. “My stepdaughter Laila Mahmood works for Lalit Modi. I know nothing about this. I called Lalit Modi and he confirmed that she has given a statement to income tax,” said the statement from Mallya.
The revelation could add fuel to the debate over propriety that was kindled by Modi's public disclosure that Sunanda Pushkar, a friend of minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor, had been given “free” equity in the Kochi IPL consortium.
Modi himself has come under the scanner because of the close association of his relatives with at least two of the IPL franchises and also with companies that control a web of online rights to the cash-rich tournament.
The IPL chairman, who had been with income-tax officials for several hours from Thursday evening to the early hours of Friday, suggested that his staff may have brought papers for him from the hotel room and that had been captured on closed-circuit TV before the tax officials went there.
“All I know is I was not at the hotel. They (staff) do bring things to me in my office... because the IT has asked us to bring some documents, it must be,” Modi said in New Delhi.Laila was quizzed for over an hour on Saturday by income-tax officials in Mumbai about the papers that she is said to have removed.
The two young ladies were inducted into the IPL in November 2008, just before the Champions League that was to have been played in December that year but was called off because of the Mumbai terror attacks.
They are close friends of Gayatri Reddy, scion of the family that owns the Hyderabad team, the Deccan Chargers.
Sources in Mumbai's celebrity circuit say Laila makes occasional appearances on the social scene. “She is a bit elusive, lives mostly in the US. But nowadays we see her — sometimes with her half-brother Siddharth Mallya, sometimes with Poorna,” said a Mumbai socialite.
Laila's mother Rekha, a secretary to the UB chief before marriage, lives in the US. Laila has an under-grad degree from the University of Bentley, Boston.
“She is an entrepreneur in her own right, she outsources accessories and lifestyle products from the US and Europe for a Bangalore lifestyle store called Kahawa. She has also worked as a merchandiser with high-end retail houses in New York,” said the Mumbai socialite.The ambitious hospitality initiative of IPL Season 3, Club Lounge, is said to be Poorna's brainchild.
The scheme offers well-to-do fans five-star hotel stays, rides in chauffeur-driven luxury sedans, and an opportunity to rub shoulders with star cricketers and the who's who of the glamour world during and after the 60 IPL matches. The price? A hefty Rs 50,000 for a single match and Rs 22 lakh for the full package of 60 games.
