NEW DELHI: Declaring that the "command" for the IPL spot-fixing originated from Dawood Ibrahim 's outfit, Delhi police told a trial court on Tuesday it has invoked the stringent organised-crime law (MCOCA) against cricketer Sreesanth and 22 others.

The court remanded cricketers Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila and the others, earlier booked for cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy, to judicial custody till June 18. It directed that production warrant be issued for June 10 for Ramesh Vyas, arrested in Mumbai, after police said he was in direct contact with Dawood and handled the betting syndicate in south India.

The court asked Mumbai Police to return accused Tinku Mandi, who Delhi cops had handed over to Mumbai police for interrogation. The prosecution said Tinku controlled betting in north India and was in touch with both Vyas and Dawood.

In his argument, additional public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said, "The command ... for betting came from abroad from people with record of organised crime. The accused were involved... indulging in betting in connivance with them." Prosecution told court there is "concrete" evidence in intercepted telephonic conversations that link Sreesanth and others with D-company. The police added that the syndicate used henchmen like Sheikh Shakeel to threaten people to follow their diktats.

The court, in its order, referred to a police report that formed the basis for the joint commissioner to give his approval to invoke section 3 and 4 of MCOCA. Sreesanth's counsel and alleged bookie Jiju Janardhan's counsel Pawan Narang said MCOCA was unjustified and had been used only to stop the two from getting bail. The 11 accused including Sreesanth and alleged bookie Jiju Janardhan moved fresh applications for bail. Additional sessions judge Sanjiv Jain fixed the hearing for June 7.

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Under MCOCA, a charge-sheet can be filed within a maximum period of 180 days. Under IPC, charge-sheets are filed within 60-90 days. Police custody can be extended to 30 days under MCOCA while under IPC, the extension limit is 15 days. The accused face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment along with fine of Rs 5 lakh as per Mcoca's section 3, while under section 4, jail term can go up to ten years along with fine of Rs 1 lakh. Properties of the accused can also be attached.