Lawyer Rebecca John has claimed that the police involved in the IPL spot-fixing probe were "deliberately planting leaks" in the media against her client, Test bowler Sreesanth.
A lawyer for one of the Indian cricketers charged with accepting tens of thousands of dollars for spot-fixing accused police Wednesday of trying to tarnish his reputation.
Lawyer Rebecca John claimed police involved in the corruption probe were "deliberately planting leaks" in the media against her client, Test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
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The comments come a day after Sreesanth, who played 27 Tests for India, and two teammates from the Rajasthan Royals were refused bail after they appeared in court over the scandal.
All three were arrested on May 16 and are accused of deliberately bowling badly in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars during the ongoing Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition.
Sreesanth (in blue T-shirt) in a police vehicle as he leaves the Saket district court in New Delhi on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
Sreesanth, who is the most famous of the players, declared his innocence and vowed his name would be cleared.
"I am innocent and have done no wrong... I have never indulged in any spot-fixing," the 30-year-old said in a statement late on Tuesday. "I will be proved innocent, and my honour and dignity will be vindicated and restored."
Sreesanth is alleged to have been paid four million rupees (about $75,000) to give away 14 runs in an over in a match against Kings XI Punjab on May 9.
His teammates -- uncapped bowlers Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan -- allegedly agreed to similar deals in two other IPL matches, police said.
Police behind the arrests of the cricketers say the trio were acting under orders from international crime syndicates, whose bosses are based in the Gulf.
Spot-fixing is an illegal activity in which a specific part of a game, but not the outcome, is fixed.
Eleven bookmakers who were arrested at the same time as the Rajasthan Royals players were also refused bail on Tuesday.
In a sign of the growing fallout from the scandal, police in Mumbai announced on Tuesday the arrest of a Bollywood actor as part of the investigation which has caused outrage among fans in the cricket-mad nation.
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