New Delhi, June 7
Actress Shilpa Shetty placed bets of Rs 1 lakh for an IPL match, the Delhi Police claimed today even as investigators said they do not believe her husband and co-owner of Rajasthan Royals Raj Kundra's statement that he lost Rs 1 crore in betting. Kundra and Shilpa have denied allegations against them.

Police sources said they may quizz Kundra again and call Shilpa for questioning if there is a need.

The names of Kundra, who was questioned for 11 hours two days ago by the police claiming that he had confessed to betting, and Shilpa, came in a statement recorded by his business partner Umesh Goenka, a bookie, during investigations into IPL spot-fixing scandal.

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said Kundra remains "very much" part of the investigation. However, he added, Kundra was "not the focus" of their probe as there is no evidence as of now to suggest that he was into spot-fixing.

Police sources said Kundra had claimed during questioning that he lost Rs 50 lakh in betting during IPL IV season, Rs 40 lakh in IPL V and Rs 12.5 lakh in the just concluded IPL VI.

The Delhi Police Commissioner told The Tribune: "We will not register a case under the Gambling Act. We don't have supporting evidence to show that Kundra had placed bets. Although, he has accepted to betting, but his statement to us is not admissible in the court. If we had telephonic intercepts on the betting incident, like we do in the spot-fixing case, then we can register a case. But Kundra betted in the past and he has only made a confession."

On being asked if there is a link between the alleged betting and the spot-fixing scam, Kumar said: "If there was a connection, then we would have arrested Kundra by now."

Furthermore, a statement on Kundra from Rajasthan Royals' chairman Ranjit Barthakur and CEO Raghu Iyer reads: "Mr Raj Kundra is a minority (11.7%) shareholder, and he has no involvement in running the franchise (Rajasthan Royals). We believe that Mr Raj Kundra is a law abiding citizen and would not act contrary to the law. If however, he is proven guilty he will be suspended, and he will also forfeit his shares. This is a strict governance procedure agreed to by all Rajasthan Royals' shareholders and it is consistent with our zero tolerance approach."