Scams are back in the world of Indian cricket. The latest design of scamsters is to extract money from aspiring cricketers by promising them a place in the state squads or the IPL teams.
Coach Kulbir Rawat, one of those arrested in the scam, confessed that he had taken money from eight to nine players. During his interrogation, Rawat also named Bikash Pradhan, who is a selector, belonging to the Sikkim Cricket Association.
The Gurugram Police will soon give him the notice to join the investigation. Meanwhile, transcripts of the chats between Kulbir Rawat and another person named Ashutosh Bora also indicated that some big names, who are associated with state-level cricket associations, may have had a hand in the scam.
According to a report in a leading newspaper, the police said that the chat mentions UP Cricket Association Vice President Mahim Verma, selector Akram Khan, and Uttarakhand Cricket Association CEO Aman. Rawat also indicated in the chats that he had been involved in selecting candidates through the UP and Uttarakhand cricket associations more than once. A whopping amount of around Rs 35 lakh was transferred from the account of Bora’s firm to Rawat’s account. More than Rs 2 lakh was transferred from Bora’s account to that of Bikash Pradhan. Apart from this, the current President of Arunachal Cricket Association Nabam Vivek’s name has also come up in the investigation.
On September 4, the Gurugram police busted a gang that used to cheat young cricketers of several lakhs on the promise of selection to various tournaments and teams. Three persons, who were directors of a sports management company Secure Corporate Management Private Limited (SCM), have been nabbed, while three others are still absconding
