On Thursday, June 20, six young cricketers from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra lost nearly ₹63 Lakh in a selection scam, wherein they were supposed to be guest players graduating to local players in the Ranji Trophy. It has been reported that the Malad police registered a case for alleged embezzlement and fraud against two people, Prashant Kamble and Devesh Upadhyay.
As reported by the Free Press Journal, Prashant Kamble is the main accused in the case, while Devesh Upadhyay pretended to be the assistant of Sonu Sood, the Bollywood actor, to lure the youngsters. The investigation from the Malad Police revealed that the six cricketers were given fake selection letters allegedly from cricket associations of Bihar, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Manipur.
Six young cricketers lose ₹63 Lakh in Ranji Trophy selection scam
Santosh Chavan from Chiplun, who runs an event management business, is a complainant in the case after introducing the youngsters to the accused, who duped them of ₹63 Lakh after months of planning and plotting. After realising that he and the six cricketers were defrauded by Prashant Kamble and Devesh Upadhyay, Santosh Chavan complained to the Malad Police about the matter.
After conducting an investigation, wherein the police found the remittance slips and selection letters to be fake, the case was registered under “sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.”
The Malad Police are expected to question Prashant Kamble and Devesh Upadhyay, the accused in the case, very soon.