Forgery case filed against cricketer Harpreet Singh Bhatia: Chhattisgarh cops

According to the FIR, Harpreet Singh Bhatia submitted documents relating to his B. Com degree that was claimed to have been issued by Bundelkhand University in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi.

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh Police have registered a case against forgery case against the state’s Ranji Trophy team captain Harpreet Singh Bhatia, accusing him of using a fake graduation certificate to seek a government job in 2014, police said on Thursday.

Chhattisgarh batter Harpreet Singh Bhatia lifting his bat to celebrate his century during the Ranji Trophy cricket match between Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh in Guwahati in February. A FIR has been filed against him by Chhattisgarh Police, police said on Thursday. (PTI)

Raipur superintendent of police (SP) Prashant Agarwal said the first information report was filed on a complaint by the office of Chhattisgarh’s principal accountant general (audit). The case has been registered under sections 420 (cheating) and 467 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code.

“A case was registered against Harpreet Singh Bhatia 31, a resident of Balod district, for allegedly getting the job of auditor/accountant in the Indian Audit Accounts Department Office of the Principal Accountant General Audit with the help of a bogus mark sheet. The matter is under investigation,” said Superintendent of Police, Raipur, Prashant Agarwal.

The cricketer was not available for comments. This story will be updated when he makes a statement on the accusation.

According to the FIR, the cricketer submitted documents relating to his B. Com degree that was claimed to have been issued by Bundelkhand University in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi. Bhatia had applied for an auditor’s job in response to an advertisement in 2014.

Bhatia was shortlisted for the job on the basis of his performance in the field trials after initial verification of the documents.

The FIR said the university has now told the department that it did not have any record of the mark sheet produced by Bhatia.

Bhatia was a member of the Indian squad in the 2010 ICC Under-19 cricket World Cup and was picked up by the Pune Warriors India in the 2011 Indian Premier League. Later, he was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2017.