NEW DELHI (TIP): With the recovery of Rs 5.5 lakh from an apartment in Mumbai, the Delhi Police has claimed to have taken account of the entire money allegedly paid to arrested cricketer Sreesanth for spot-fixing by bookies. The recovery was made on the basis of information provided by Sreesanth’s friend Abhishek Shukla, who was arrested on Wednesday. Shukla was arrested for allegedly hiding Sreesanth’s electronic gadgets and the money that was paid to him by the bookies. He was granted bail by a Delhi court.

Shukla took Delhi Police officials to his apartment at Lokhandwala in Mumbai and an amount of Rs 5.5 lakh, allegedly belonging to Sreesanth was recovered. In an IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on May 9, a Rs 40-lakh deal was struck with Sreesanth for conceding a specified number of runs in an over. Sreesanth was playing for Rajasthan Royals.

The bookies gave Rs 10 lakh to Sreesanth’s friend Jiju Janardhan. The cricketer later received the money. The investigators have also claimed to have recovered four bills, which showed that Sreesanth spent Rs 7.33 lakh by credit card and cash in Jaipur and Mumbai. The payments were made a few days before his arrest. The first bill is for Rs 1.7 lakh while the second one is for Rs 1.58 lakh.

In both case, Rs 1 lakh was paid through credit card and the rest by cash. The third bill is for Rs 2.1 lakh, out of which Rs 2 lakh was paid through credit card and the remaining in cash. The three bills purportedly showed that the money was spent in Jaipur. The fourth bill for Rs 1.95 lakh, dated May 14, is from “Diesel” store in Mumbai. “On that day, Sreesanth had paid Rs 1.95 lakh for buying denims and other articles from Diesel store. Shukla was handling the money.

After the purchases, Shukla took the money in a black bag to his Lokhandwala apartment,” police sources said. Shukla reportedly wanted to become Sreesanth’s agent. He first met the cricketer in Bangalore about six years ago. The Delhi Police had earlier claimed that immediately after Sreesanth’s arrest, Jiju had given Rs 2 lakh to Shukla. The money was taken from the cricketer’s room in Mumbai.

After Sreesanth’s arrest, his friend Rajiv was directed by the police to call Jiju and tell him to arrive at Hotel Intercontinental in Mumbai. Investigators claimed Jiju then spoke to someone in Malyalam over the phone. The police has obtained intercepts of the telephonic conversation.