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Prabhakar denies links with Apace

Former India all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar today denied media reports that he was involved in the activities of the Lucknow-based Apace Group of Companies.

In a signed statement, the former India star, now at the centre of the match-fixing controversy, says: "This is to specify that I am neither a co-promoter, nor on the board of directors, of any of the Lucknow-based Apace Group of Companies. The relevant documents and receipts from the Department of Company Affairs proving my non-involvement is attached herewith. I am dismayed at the manner in which Rashtriya Sahara has been conducting a villification campaign against me. Till now, I was ignoring all the reports in Rashtriya Sahara as, to any sane person, it was apparent that these were motivated reports. It is to be noted that this motivated campaign against me started around the time I was slated to appear before the CBI and reveal to them the name of teh team-mate who offered me Rs 25 lakh.

"Today, I am severely disappointed that a national daily should pick up the report without even checking the facts with me.

"It also appears now that I have come out in the open against the entrenched interests in cricket, their strategy appears to be to try and discredit me as much as possible with totally baseless reports. It is a sad state of affairs that instead of acting on the information that I helped dig out, certain sections of the media should be more concerned with shooting the messenger rather than taking the investigation forward. I would request the media to check up on their facts before publishing such reports in future."

Attached to this signed statement are two documents. The first is a letter, written on the personal letterhead of Divya Nautiyal, founder of the Apace Group of Companies, and addressed to Manoj Prabhakar which reads as under:

'Dear Sir:

"You are requested to confirm your non-association with Companies of our group with reference to above, as already confirmed to your self that your name does not exist in our records either as a promoter or a director of any of the companies of our group.

"We have in this connection got carried out an inspection of documents/files of our Companies in the Office of the Registrar of Companies, UP, Kanpur. The report of the Chartered Accountants as submitted by them after inspection are also confirming your non-association with our Companies. This is encolsed herewith, for your kind reference."

The letter is signed Divya Nautiyal, Director, Apace Group of Companies, and dated May 23, 2000.

Also attached, is an official letter from P K Srivastava, Partner, Rajesh Srivastava and Associates, Chartered Accountants. The firm is based in the Maha Nagar Extension, Lucknow.

The letter is addressed to Divya Nautiyal, and reads thus:

"Dear Sir:

Subject: Inspection of document file of Apace Companies

Ref: Your letter dated May 17, 2000

"With reference to above, as required by yourself, we have carried out the inspection of documents files of below mentioned companies in Registrar of Companies, Kanpur, on 19th, and 23rd of May, 2000, in connection with finding out the detail of Directorship etc of a particular gentleman, namely Mr Manoj Prabhakar.

1) Apace Savings and Mutual Benefits Limited
2) Apace India Corporation Limited
3) Apace Housings and Constructions Limited
4) Apace Plantations and Resorts Limited
5) Apace India Marketing Limited
6) APS Nidhi and Finance Limited

"We have gone through search/inspection of documents files of the abovesaid companies, and on the basis of such inspection, we report that the name of Mr Manoj Prabhakar does not exist in the list of Board of Directors of any above companies.

"We further report that Mr Manoj Prabhakar's name is also not appearing in the subscribers' list of Memorandum & Articles of Association of any of the aforesaid companies.

"The ROC Office receipts for deposit of inspection fees are enclosed herewith."

The letter is signed by P K Srivastava, a partner in the accounting firm, and dated May 23, 2000