By IANS,
Kochi : The state vigilance department Friday registered a case against office-bearers and others of the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) after a cricket enthusiast complained to a special court about several incidents of corruption in the body.
Balaji Iyengar and two others sent copies of their complaints about alleged financial manipulation in the KCA to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
They also filed a petition at the vigilance court in Thrissur in November last year. Following the petition, the court asked the vigilance department to investigate the matter.
The vigilance department will investigate the alleged corruption that took place in the conduct of two international one-day cricket matches played in Kochi in 2006 and 2008.
Vigilance department chief V.N. Nandaraj confirmed that the case has been registered against KCA secretary T.C. Mathew and 85 others, who were involved in conducting the two matches between Pakistan and England at Kochi.
“A case has been registered based on the direction of the court and the investigation will begin shortly,” said Nandaraj.
Iyengar, a chartered accountant by profession, recently formed the Kerala Cricketers Forum (KCF), a group of former cricketers from Kerala and cricket lovers, and demanded that the authorities immediately intervene and examine the KCA’s working.
One of the major discrepancies the KCF has mentioned is that the chartered accountant who audited the KCA’s accounts for the financial year ended March 31, 2007, asked the body’s executive committee to file a police report and seek an inquiry into the corruption.
However, the KCA secretary told reporters that the whole thing was a “conspiracy against them”.