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Indian cops to seek King report

Indian police pursuing match-fixing charges against Hansie Cronje said Monday they would seek the report of a South African agency probing the biggest scandal in cricket history.

The Delhi Police also warned that an offer of immunity offered by South African prosecutors to Cronje and two other tarred cricketers would not be valid in India.

"We will ask for the report of the King Commission but only when it completes its investigations into the scandal," Delhi police Crime Branch chief Pradeep Srivastava told AFP.

Srivastava, who announced the bombshell match-fixing charges against Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom on April 7, said the Commission report could not be used as hard evidence in an Indian court.

"The findings of the commission cannot be used directly as evidence but it will help us in making an opinion (in the case)," he said, adding: "South Africa is not obliged to hand over the report to us."

Charges that Cronje took money to throw matches hinge around the five one-day internationals South Africa played in India between March 9 and 19. India won the series 3-2.

The crime branch insists it has "clinching evidence" in the form of taped conversations between Cronje and a London-based Indian bookie to nail the sacked South African skipper and his teammates in court.

Sources in the legal unit of the Delhi police said immunity offered to the cricketers by South African prosecutors would be invalid in India.

"The charges against these players hinge on the fact that they cheated people. This is a serious criminal offence in India and hence the prosecution cannot be nullified by immunity offered by another country," a source said.

Cronje, Gibbs and bowler Henry Williams have been offered immunity by South African prosecutors in return for telling the truth about their roles in the scandal that has rocked the cricket world.

Gibbs and Williams, who does not face charges in India, stunned South Africa when they revealed at the King Commission last week that Cronje had offered them 15,000 dollars each to underperform in the last one-day international against India.

They both accepted the offer, but neither received any money. Gibbs claimed he forgot about the deal and went on to score 74 runs instead of the maximum of 20, while Williams left the field injured before being able to concede 50 runs from his 10 overs.

Other Indian police crime branch officials said they had mailed formal requests to the South African authorities to share information on the four cricketeers facing charges here.

Cronje's trial for match fixing in India, which was set to begin last Friday, was postponed at the request of police prosecutors, saying they had yet to receive crucial details from Interpol that could be used as evidence in court.

Indian law enforcing agencies have accused the international police organisation of deliberetely dragging its feet in supplying samples of Cronje's voice and bank account details linked to the scandal.