A young man has been arrested for allegedly cheating a cricketer of Rs.3 lakh by promising to send him to the United Kingdom for playing in the County Cricket League.
Wasim Akram, a State cricket player from Haryana who has also played under-19 international cricket, lodged a complaint with the Hauz Khas police in March. In it, he alleged that he was cheated by Manish Redu, 23, whom he met while undergoing training at a renowned cricket academy at Dwarka.
Claiming that he knew an Indian team player living in Hauz Khas, Manish allegedly offered to send Akram to the U.K., demanding Rs.4 lakh. He also took Akram to Hauz Khas to convince him that he knew the cricketer.
Akram fell into the trap and paid him Rs.3 lakh. Manish's intentions became clear when he stopped taking Akram's calls and switched off his mobile phone.
The police, who registered a case and initiated an investigation, learnt that Manish had invited a renowned former cricketer of the Indian team for the inauguration of a Junior Cricket League at a prestigious school in the neighbouring Gurgaon. Subsequently, they laid a trap and intercepted a vehicle in which he was travelling.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Delhi) Chhaya Sharma said the vehicle was fitted with a red beacon and pasted with a Delhi Vidhan Sabha sticker. The police seized six more such scanned stickers, the letterheads of a Delhi-based sports club, the bio-data of 10 young cricketers, 20 prospectus of Junior Cricket League 2010-11, and other documents. During interrogation, Manish is reported to have told the police that he was earlier manufacturing sports outfit, but suffered huge losses. To overcome the financial crisis, he planned to cheat young cricketers.
