Delhi man dupes Ranji player, her friend of ₹17 lakh by offering job, sponsors

According to the cricketer, the man tricked them into paying him around ₹14 lakh on the pretext of preparing sports certificates and other documentation required for the jobs

A woman cricketer and her friend were duped of around ₹17 lakh over four months last year by a man who promised to provide them with jobs in a nationalised bank on sports quota and sponsorship from a leading cricket equipment manufacturing company, police said on Friday.

Police have registered a first information report (FIR) against the man, identified as Gagan Sharma from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh who lives in east Delhi as well.

Police said they have registered a first information report (FIR) against the man, identified as Gagan Sharma from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh who lives in east Delhi as well, under Indian Penal Code’s sections 420 (heating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) at the Preet Vihar police station. The FIR is based on the complaint of the woman cricketer’s friend, who was employed with a private bank but lost her job due to the multiple loans she took to arrange funds to pay Sharma, police said.

The cricketer, part of the U-19 Nagaland team during the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy championship, requested HT to withhold her and her friend’s names, citing their security and professional careers. She claimed that the Sharma duped them by claiming that he was also a cricketer and was part of an Indian Premier League (IPL) team as a net practice bowler. He also tricked them into believing that he had good contacts with authorities at the nationalised bank, where his uncle purportedly holds a senior position. He also claimed that his father is a serving station house officer (SHO) in Delhi Police while his sister is a judge in a high court, the cricketer said.

“We have registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust in connection with the cheating with the two women. The investigating team is probing the case and efforts are being made to nab the suspect,” said deputy commissioner of police (east) Amrutha Guguloth.

The former banker said in her complaint that they first met the suspect in a park on April 10 last year while he was coaching a girl. The woman cricketer threw the ball back to the man when it rolled towards her. He approached her and asked if she was a cricketer. When she replied in the affirmative, the man identified himself as a cricketer as well, the police said, quoting the FIR.

“The man told both women that he could arrange permanent jobs for them in a bank on sports quota. When the complainant told him that she was not a player, he told her that he will get everything done using his contacts. He took their phone numbers and often spoke with them. He first duped them of ₹67,000 in the name of arranging their meeting with his uncle (supposedly a senior bank employee) at a five-star hotel,” said a police officer, quoting the FIR. The meeting, however, never took place.

According to the cricketer, the man tricked them into paying him around ₹14 lakh on the pretext of preparing sports certificates and other documentation required for the jobs. In the first week of July last year, the man also tricked the complainant’s father into paying him ₹55,000, claiming that her job had been confirmed and they had to visit Mumbai to get her appointment letter. The same week, he took the two women to a luxury hotel in Mumbai, where he gave them a copy of the purported appointment letter. He told the complainant that she could join the bank’s Connaught Place, Delhi branch in August 2022.

“Sharma also duped me of ₹1 lakh by telling me that he will take me to Himachal Pradesh, where I will play as a guest player for the state in Dharamshala. Also, he duped me on the pretext of helping me get a sponsorship from a leading cricket equipment manufacturing company, and also provided a forged cheque issued in the company’s name. When we realised in July last year that Sharma was cheating us, we demanded our money back. He then started threatening us and stopped responding to our calls and messages,” the cricketer said.

The cricketer alleged that the suspect has duped more people in the name of providing government jobs. She also suspected him to be a part of an organised job racket, she said.