Bizman, B’wood casting director
    grilled in IPL
spot-fixing case

S Ahmed Ali & Manoj Badgeri TNN

Mumbai: The city crime branch on Monday questioned a businessman from the western suburbs who had sponsored cricketers Sreesanth and Jiju Janardhan’s stay at a five-star hotel. The police also grilled a Bollywood casting director who had emailed several pictures of aspiring models to Sreesanth.
    The businessman’s questioning came after a statement by Tamarind Travels and Tours, which had booked the two suites for Sreesanth and Jiju in the suburban hotel from May 13 onwards. Officials of Tamarind Travel said a businessman called Shetty had booked the suites. The two cricketers were arrested by the Delhi police on May 16.
    “We want to know whether any bookie has sponsored their stay or any payments came through them,’’ said an source.
    The casting director who had sent the email to Sreesanth was also grilled. He said Sreesanth’s business partner in Hyderabad had requested him to send photos of good-looking women to advertise for their clothing brand–S36. Two Bandra models were also questioned.
    Meanwhile, Marathi actor Kranti Redkar of Gangajal fame said she will take a news channel to court for linking her with the IPL spot-fixing scandal that broke last week. Shooting for a film in Kudal, Redkar said over the phone on Monday that she had been at the site with her crew since May 10.
    She said when she called the Noida-based channel that had indicated her involvement with Sreesanth in the spot-fixing racket, the staff admitted to having erred. “I will drag them to court for tarnishing my image.” Delhi cops meet JCP O n Monday, the Delhi police handed over an official letter to city crime branch chief Himanshu Roy, asking him for help in the probe. Sources said the Delhi police had requested that they need the CCTV footage of the hotel and details of the iPad and mobile phones of Sreesanth, which are with the Mumbai police. TNN