Kalka pastor held for duping family of ₹40 lakh was a Ranji player

The accused, Sanjay Kaushik, a resident of Kalka and a pastor at Bless Your Faith Church, Kalka, was produced before a court on Monday sent to judicial custody

The pastor booked for duping a scrap dealer of ₹40 lakh on the promise of sending his 20-year-old son abroad was a Ranji player, police said.

During interrogation, the pastor told the police that he played for Haryana in Ranji Trophy in 1994. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The accused, Sanjay Kaushik, a resident of Kalka and a pastor at Bless Your Faith Church, Kalka, was produced before a court on Monday sent to judicial custody.

During interrogation, Kaushik told the police that he played for Haryana in Ranji Trophy in 1994. He said he was a fast bowler and even played county cricket in England in 2000, but quit sports after an accident in 2002.

So far, police have recovered no money from him. He told the police that the money was spent on international trips, as he had spent around 150 days abroad. He had taken Kabir, son of complainant Bittu, resident of Marranwala village, Pinjore, along to Indonesia and Singapore for tours.

His wife is a government school teacher, and his two children, a daughter and a son, are also working.

During his two-day police remand, Kaushik told the police that contrary to Bittu’s allegations, he never converted Kabir to Christianity and had only asked him to come along to the US to preach the faith. He himself had also not converted to Christianity, though he believed in the faith and preached it.