Spot fixing row: Did WhatsApp, BBM messages nail Sreesanth?

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Indian pacer S. Sreesanth is in trouble again. But this time, he has been accused of doing something more grave than just sending out a controversial tweet.

Sreesanth and two other players of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) Indian Premier League (IPL) team have been arrested by the Delhi Police and charged with spot-fixing in the ongoing tournament.

"Just when IPL was going on so smoothly without controversies I woke up to the news of 3 RR players alleged spot fixing. Investigations r on," tweeted Raj Kundra, owner of the Rajasthan Royals. This latest controversy also raises questions on whether the entire IPL is fixed.

However, Raj Kundra maintains that apart from these incidents, the tournament is clean. "When asked the repeated question is IPL fixed my answer is always IPL teams CAN'T be fixed but individual players who lack integrity can," tweets Kundra.

The interesting part is that Sreesanth and and two other players were apparently using services like WhatsApp and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to co-ordinate with bookies, which ultimately landed them in police net.

Firstpost, quoting a report on Times Now, says that the Delhi police had around 70 phones under surveillance during their probe into spot-fixing in the IPL and were tracking mobile messaging applications like WhatsApp and BBM. It was reportedly while tracking these messaging services that they found Sreesanth and the two others' involvement in the spot-fixing ring.

The report also mentions that the incident shows that messages sent across these networks are not secure, which might lead to questions on security and privacy.

In the meantime, the spot-fixing controversy has disappointed ardent cricket fans. "If there is a God, could you please ensure Rahul is immune to this scandal? It would kill a huge part of me if he were involved," tweets Nikhil Mehra.

"There could be many more players involved, we never know! Hope all guilty get punished," tweets Gopal Krishnan.

What do you have to say about this issue? Does the fact that BBM and WhatsApp messages can be monitored worry you? Do let us know.