Chennai: A senior Tamil Nadu IPS official, who initially probed the IPL betting racket and faced allegations of receiving bribe from a bookie, was today suspended for violation of "conduct rules" and the government set in motion the process to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him.
The suspended officer, G Sampath Kumar, had made certain allegations in his deposition before Supreme Court appointed Mudgal Committee that went into IPL scam.
"Sampath Kumar has been suspended for violation of conduct rules," Director-General of Police (DGP) K Ramanujam told PTI.
According to the suspension order, disciplinary proceedings were being contemplated against the officer.
Also, it said Kumar, currently posted in Tiruchirappalli as Superintendent of Railway police, should not leave his headquarters without Principal Home Secretary's permission.
Whe contacted for his reaction, Kumar declined to comment.
The official had probed the betting racket while he was in the Q branch (a state intelligence wing on internal security), before the case was transferred to the CB-CID.
Later, it was alleged that a bookie had "confessed" to police that he had "collected" money on the "instructions" of the official. Kumar, in his deposition before the Mudgal panel, had alleged that the match fixing angle was not pursued by CB-CID.
"I have reasons and evidence to infer that the CB-CID is not trying to uncover the masterminds involved in match fixing. The probe is stalled and being misled on vested interest," he had told the panel.
He had indicated that some bookies and top players were allegedly in touch and that the 2013 May Jaipur match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals could have been "fixed."
The Mudgal panel in its report to the Supreme Court said "on the issue of whether (CSK Principal) Gurunath Meiyappan was involved in match fixing and spot fixing, the issue has not been investigated thoroughly by the ICC-ACSU, BCCI's ACU or the CB-CID of the Chennai Police though some information was available for such an investigation to be conducted."
Meanwhile, CB-CID sources said it had been investigating all angles, including IPL match fixing.
A CB-CID official said "the investigation of IPL betting case is under advanced stage. After completing investigation, we will submit the chargesheet".
When asked whether fresh summons had been issued to the accused, including Meiyappan, CB-CID DSP Venkataraman declined to comment.
