NEW DELHI — Two top officials of the Indian cricket board quit Friday over an escalating spot-fixing scandal, reports said. Sanjay Jagdale, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and treasurer Ajay Shirke submitted their resignations to the board president, the NDTV news network and other channels said. “I don't want to give any reaso, I have sent my resignation to the BCCI president,” Jagdale was quoted as saying by NDTV. The resignations of Jagdale, the number two in the board hierarchy, and Shirke were likely to pile on more pressure on president N. Srinivasan to quit. Srinivasan has been under fire to resign after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested last week for allegedly betting on Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. Meiyappan, an executive at the Chennai Super Kings IPL team which is owned by Srinivasan's group India Cements, is being probed by a three-member BCCI commission. Meiyappan's arrest came after three players of Rajasthan Royals were also taken into custody. Srinivasan, who was elected as the BCCI president in 2011, has been resisting pressure for him to step down and can only be removed if two-thirds of the board's members vote against him. Earlier this week, India's sports ministry said Srinivasan should quit on “moral grounds” over the widening scandal that has rocked the sport. Police suspect that the betting racket is being controlled by international crime syndicates whose bosses are well aware of the rewards if they can manipulate events on the field in the cricket-mad region. See also: Bowler turns witness in India spot-fixing scam
