Former India Under-19 cricketer and co-owner of Lanka Premier League (LPL) franchise Jaffna Kings Manjot Kalra remains in custody in a match-fixing case as a Colombo court rejected his plea for anticipatory bail.
The court ordered Kalra to remain in custody till July 31 following his arrest earlier this month. Manjot Kalra is one of the main accused who is alleged to have influenced the players to fix the ongoing LPL 2026 matches.
Why did the court refuse to grant anticipatory bail to Manjot Kalra?
Following the court order to take the former India Under-19 cricketer into custody, Kalra and Yuvraj Pushpa approached Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama for anticipatory bail, which was reportedly rejected as the investigation was in progress.
According to latest media reports, defense lawyer KWS Fernando sought bail for Manjot Kalra and fellow Indian national Yuvraj Pushpa, expressing concern over their health. The defense lawyer claimed that both Kalra and Pushpa were unwell while in custody.
The magistrate later rejected the bail plea; Therefore, both of them will remain in custody as part of the investigation conducted by the Special Investigation Unit of the Sri Lanka Police for the Prevention of Sports-related Crimes.
At least five Sri Lankan cricketers have filed a complaint against Manjot Kalra
Allegations of possible match-fixing against Manjot Kalra emerged ahead of the start of the sixth edition of the Lanka Premier League. Manjot is accused of influencing several cricketers by giving bribes to manipulate the league matches.
Sri Lankan internationals Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Avishka Fernando and Dunith Velales were among the top names who were reportedly the first to report Manjoth’s suspicious activities to investigators. Later, some local cricketers also complained against the co-owner of Jaffna Kings.
At the initial stage, investigators claimed that they had enough evidence, including recordings of phone calls and videos, which proved that Manjot had tried to influence the players. However, despite the claims of the investigators, the case is yet to find a strong foundation to make allegations and claims against Kalra and Pushpa.
Investigators had earlier told the Colombo court that several players were allegedly approached with proposals to influence LPL 2026 matches. Officials further said that the players alerted the Sports Corruption Investigation Unit and continued to track the accused after receiving the allegations.
Jaffna Kings is currently operated by Sri Lanka Cricket
The current season of the Lanka Premier League started on July 17 and will run till August 8, and Manjot Kalra’s arrest was made around the opener of LPL 2026. Since he was the co-owner of Jaffna Kings, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had to intervene in the matter and took some important steps to re-arrange the management structure of the franchise.
The league and Sri Lanka Cricket are currently controlling all operations related to the franchise. Despite changes in the managerial structure and team sponsorship, it continues to play in the current league under its original name.
