Bollywood actress questioned over match-fixing allegations – Cricket News Update
Alan Peacock, the International Cricket Council’s corruption unit investigator and security officer, was in Mumbai to question Bollywood actress Nupur Mehta with regard to her role in the match-fixing allegations as alleged by a British newspaper. The meeting
took place in a suburban hotel of the city on Monday and after the meeting the actress said that she had been ‘given a clean chit by the ICC’ over her non-involvement in any kind of match-fixing activity.
Her name first appeared in March this year, when a London daily newspaper Sunday Times carried out a sting operation on a Delhi based bookie. The operation was done to look into the match-fixing allegations during the ICC World Cup, held simultaneously in
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India, especially with the focus on the semi-final match between India and Pakistan.
The Sunday Times' report with a blurred image and no names, implicated Mehta's involvement as an accomplice hired by Indian bookmakers to be used in luring the players into both match-fixing and spot-fixing.
Mehta said, "I was quizzed for two and half hours today. He was (Allan Peacock) the only official representing the ICC. There was a list of questionnaires. He asked me who I know in cricketing world both India and international players. I took names but
I won't reveal it to the media."
Mehta is a small-time Bollywood actress with just one movie to her credit. The ICC has so far refused to comment on the development and maintains that it usually doesn’t comment on matters related to anti-corruption unit. However, ICC sources have termed
her comments as hogwash and maintained that the air is not as clear as she said.
Mehta defended her cricketing friends and said that she told the ICC official about her non-involvement in match-fixing and the players she befriended with also had no involvement in this matter.
"I have complete faith in ICC investigating unit. They gave me a clean chit today. I told them the cricketers I took the names are not involved in fixing at all. They are innocent. I proved myself right. I have cleared the air," she concluded.