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After spending 26 days behind bars in IPL spot-fixing case, former India cricketer Shantakumaran Sreesanth was released from Tihar Jail on Tuesday night along with Ankeet Chavan and 17 others.
Sreesanth, who was arrested along with his Rajasthan Royals teammates Chavan and Ajit Chandila on May 16 from Mumbai by the Delhi police, did not speak to waiting media outside Tihar Jail.
All the 19, including Sreesanth, Chavan and 14 alleged bookies, were granted bail on Monday by a Delhi court.
Sreesanth was in police custody for the first 13 days while for the rest of the period he was lodged in Tihar jail.
In between, Chavan was granted interim bail for his marriage.
The court had, on Monday, indicted ther Delhi police for slapping the stringent provisions of MCOCA on the three cricketers and 17 others while granted them bail.
“There is no reason for believing that the accused are guilty under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) at this stage," Additional Sessions Judge Vinay Kumar Khanna said, adding, there is prima facie "no sufficient material" against the accused to establish their "nexus" with an organised crime syndicate.
Sreesanth, Chavan and Chandila were arrested in Mumbai for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing in IPL matches for payments ranging up to Rs 60 lakh for giving away pre-determined number of runs in an over.
These three players were suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and booked under section 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
Image: Shantakumaran Sreesanth
Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani