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Who's Mukesh Gupta?

Onkar Singh, in Delhi

Mukesh Gupta, the man who Hansie Cronje says was introduced to him by former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin during a Test match in 1996 at Kanpur, is a Delhi-based businessman.

According to a cricket scribe, Gupta has a shop in the Bhagirath place in Chandni Chowk area in Delhi; he is 38 years old and follows cricket matches closely.

The Central district police was not able to confirm or deny whether Gupta had any criminal record, or had been involved in any betting racket.

"At the moment we cannot say with any amount of certainty if the man in question is the one who is involved match-fixing. We would certainly look into it," said an official of the Delhi police, which is currently investigating the match-fixing case against Hansie Cronje and others.

Cronje, in his admission before the King Commission on Thursday, said Azharuddin had introduced him to a man named Mukesh Gupta and later left the room.

"If what Cronje has said is true then Gupta would have to face investigation from the enforcement directorate," said a senior CBI officer.

Asked if the Delhi police was disappointed that Cronje did not mention even a word about the on-going investigations against him in Delhi or about his conversation with Sanjeev Chawla, the officer said that they were not expecting him to do that because it would have amounted to confessing his crime.

"If he had done that then we would have been able to force him to come to India to stand trail. Besides, he could have been arrested any time in the next ten years if he ever stepped on the Indian soil," he said.

He, however, admitted that after the confession the case against the former South Africa captain has become all the more strong. "We are still investigating the case, but the confessions made by Cronje, regarding Sanjeev Chawla, have naturally boosted our morale. We as the investigators feel happy about the latest developments," said the officer.

Meanwhile, top officials of the crime branch of the Delhi police denied allegations levelled by former film star Kishen Kumar that he has been framed in the match-fixing case and is being forced to make statements to implicate others.

The CBI is currently examining former and present Indian cricketers and officials to find out the truth behind allegations levelled by former India allrounder Manoj Prabhakar against former India cricket captain Kapil Dev.

The Betting Scandal: The full story