Dalmiya breaks down during questioning
Dalmiya?s answers have been recorded and will be verified with the corroborative evidence.
Jagmohan Dalmiya was once considered the strongman of Indian cricket. On Monday, the former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) — while being questioned by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in a case of alleged misappropriation of board funds — was reduced to lamenting that his reputation had been torn to shreds, even breaking down momentarily.
The EOW is probing an FIR filed by BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah with the Marine Drive police alleging misappropriation of Rs 21.74 lakh from the 1996 World Cup account.
Dalmiya, who was questioned by a four-member team, was at the city Crime Branch for over six hours — the grilling began at 11 am and ended at 5.40 pm. Police said 35 listed questions were put before Dalmiya, who answered them and some spontaneous ones in a by and large “composed” manner. It was toward the end of the session that he broke down, maintaining that he had simply spent the money for the BCCI.
The questions put to Dalmiya, EOW sources said, were comprehensive. They took him through his journey from the time he began dabbling in cricket administration to the zenith of his career.
Sources said Dalmiya maintained throughout that the complaint was meant to harass him.
Dalmiya’s answers have been recorded and will be verified with the corroborative evidence. An EOW team may leave for Kolkata soon to procure documents.