Conduit a relative of BCCI bigwig?

Cricket’s snoopgate scandal is threatening to blow up on the perpetrators now that a probe committee has been appointed. But since the payment was made by the BCCI it should not take too long for it to trace to whom the money transfer close to a million dollars was made. A source reveals that the conduit may be the brother-in-law of a BCCI big shot.

If the truth is established, it might prove an embarrassment for the BCCI for having indulged in spy games, putting board members under surveillance accessing their emails and even leaking some of them. The ruling BJP might also be interested to know if the same people were also responsible for leaking the Lalit Modi emails that created havoc in political circles as it involved the Union foreign minister and a chief minister.

Earlier last week, BCCI had sought an explanation from former secretary Sanjay Patel and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary over the payment of $900,000 (close to Rs 6 crore) made in 2013-2014 to Page Protective Services.

Patel in his defence said that UK-based company “did not snoop on any board official” during his time in office. In fact, Modi, the former IPL commissioner, had revealed the snoopgate as far back as February last year, when retired Delhi High Court judge Mukul Mudgal was in London to investigate corruption in IPL-6. “In what seems to be a sophisticated surveillance covert operation, day-to-day activities of Mudgal were tracked while he is visiting London. The same surveillance agency has also been involved with physical surveillance of myself, who apparently is a secondary target,” Modi had written in a blog on his website.