|
 New Delhi, Oct 12: South African cricketer Hershelle Gibbs today appeared before the Delhi police crime branch and confessed to receiving offers twice to under-perform in one-day internationals.
During the 150-minute questioning session, which police said went in a manner they wanted, the 32-year-old star batsman accepted that he was doing only what his late captain Hansie Cronje wanted him to do.
He named off-spinner Derek Crookes and a few other South African players as being part of the conspiracy, but said he did not know whether any Indian player was involved.
A day after he arrived in the country, which he had skipped twice in the past, Gibbs accompanied by his lawyer Peter Whelan drove to the police headquarters here for a questioning session with the crime branch team headed by Joint Commissioner Ranjit
Narayan.
From there, he was taken to an officers' mess in Daryaganj in Old Delhi, a couple of km away for detailed questioning.
Addressing a press conference later, Narayan said Gibbs has admitted that he had twice received offers from Cronje to 'under-perform' in a one-day international in 1996 and 2000.
Asked specifically whether Gibbs had taken money, Narayan said he had not accepted to it. The questioning of Gibbs, after a long wait, has come as a shot in the arm for the Delhi police, which claimed he had filled up several gaps and the investigation will now move forward with more
vigour.
"Gibbs has confessed that he had received offers and he was part of the conspiracy. He talked about receiving the offer twice from his captain Hansie Cronje," Ranjit Narayan told reporters.
The nature of the offer was to under-perform in return for certain amount of money, Narayan said.
Narayan, however, was not forthcoming on whether Gibbs had in fact thrown away the match for monetary gains. "It's for us to find out," he added.
"When you accept an illegal offer, you are part of the conspiracy under Indian law," he added, indicating that legal action could be taken against him.
The process of questioning Gibbs, who had skipped two tours to India before, was initiated after ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed met the Delhi Commissioner K K Paul recently.
"But we did not give him any assurance or undertaking that Gibbs will not be arrested. We had sent a Letter Rogatory to the South African authorities but we have not received any reply yet," he said.
"Gibbs's lawyer has admitted that not sending a reply to the Letter Rogatory was a big mistake," he added. (Agencies)
|
