New Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar today confirmed that Rajasthan Royals’ team owner Raj Kundra has confessed to placing bets on his own Indian Premier League team through his friend and business partner Umesh Goenka. Any disclosure to the police is not admissible as evidence in court.

Even as investigations are on to track down the bookies whose names have come up, the police say provisions pertaining to betting would certainly be invoked against them.

“In his statement recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which is admissible in the court as evidence, Goenka also disclosed that he had once placed a bet on behalf of Kundra’s wife Shilpa Shetty. His disclosure is being examined,” said a senior police officer, briefing the media on Thursday.

Shilpa has denied the charge through her Twitter account, accusing the media of casting aspersions on her.

The officer said that Kundra had placed bets of nearly Rs 1 crore over the past three years. Kundra has also refuted the charges of his involvement in betting, made by the Delhi Police Commissioner on the basis of the Special Cell probe findings.

The Delhi Police said Goenka had started placing bets on IPL matches three years ago and acted as a bookie for Kundra.

“He would receive a betting amount from Kundra, retain some and forward the rest to other bookies for placing bets on his friend’s behalf. We have sought bank transaction details from both the business partners. At this stage, we have enough evidence to book them for betting. However, further investigations are under way into other aspects which may lead us to other crucial facts,” said the officer.

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