Mrinank Singh, a resident of Haryana's Faridabad, represented the state's cricket team at the under-19 level. He also claimed to represent a team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), police said
A five-star hotel has allegedly been duped of Rs 5 lakh by a 25-year-old former cricketer who also once conned Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant of Rs 1.63 crore between 2020 and 2021. The former cricketer, who has duped several hotels, was arrested at Delhi's IGI Airport on Monday while trying to fly to Hong Kong, police said.
Mrinank Singh, a resident of Haryana's Faridabad, represented the state's cricket team at the under-19 level. During interrogation he revealed that he duped multiple luxury resorts/hotels to the tune of lacks of rupees by impersonating himself as IPL cricketer of Mumbai Indian team, a Delhi Police press release said.
He also claimed to represent a team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), police said.
Singh is accused of duping multiple luxury hotels owners/managers across India by posing as a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. A "famous Indian cricketer", said to be Rishabh Pant, is also allegedly among his victims.
According to police, Mrinank Singh came up with different modus operandi and posed as a senior IPS officer to dupe five-star hotels and resorts. Police said he also posed as a player for an IPL franchise and used his "stardom" to dupe women and live a luxurious life.
Singh claimed to be the ambassador for an international sports brand and cheated showrooms that sold sports equipment, police said, adding that he also claimed to be closely connected with several Indian cricketers.
On August 22, 2022, Chanakyapuri police station in Delhi received a complaint from the director of security of a five-star hotel which alleged that Singh posed as a cricketer and stayed in the hotel from July 22 to July 29, 2022, a senior police officer said.
Singh left the hotel without settling the Rs 5.53 lakh bill anf said that his sponsor would settle it. Accordingly, the hotel shared its bank details, the officer said.
Unique Transaction Reference (UTR) number of an online transaction for Rs 2 lakh was sent to the hotel but that was found to be dubious. Following this, the hotel contacted Mrinank Singh and his manager Gagan Singh.
Singh then told the hotel that he would send his driver with the cash but no one arrived, news agency PTI quoted Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Ravikant Kumar as saying. Mrinank Singh was contacted multiple times over the dues but made false promises and kept providing wrong information to the hotel.
Following this, a case under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Chanakyapuri police station, Kumar said.
As investigation began, a notice was sent to Singh's address but neither was he there nor was his mobile number avaiable, police said and added that most of his communications were on social media.
His acquaintances were made to believe that he was not in India and had settled in Dubai. Subsequently, a non-bailable warrant was issued against him and a lookout circular issued, Kumar said.
Singh, arrested at IGI Airport on Monday while trying to fly to Hong Kong, attempted to influence the investigating officers by posing as a senior IPS officer during his detention, Kumar said.
Mrinank Singh revealed to the police that he has duped multiple luxury resorts/hotels of lakhs of rupees by posing as a cricketer for an IPL team. Further analysis of his mobile phone revealed that there were multiple victims of his fraud and impersonation, the police said.
Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has also been conned by Mrinank Singh between 2020 and 2021. Pant was duped of Rs 1.63 crore by Mrinank, who offered to get him expensive watches at a “reasonable rate”, an indiatoday.in report mentioned.
Mrinank Singh had also taken luxurious items, including jewellery, and did not return them or the money to Pant.
The report quoted Rishabh Pant's lawyer Eklavya Dwivedi as saying that Mrinank had told the Indian cricketer about his new luxury items business and offered to supply the same items at a remarkably reduced price.
Subsequently, Pant transferred a substantial sum of money to Mrinank to acquire high-end watches and other luxury items, including jewelry. Pant and also gave Mrinank Singh some luxurious items, including jewellery, thinking he would be able to resell them for a huge profit, the report said.
However, when Mrinank failed to procure the promised items, Pant took legal action, leading to a settlement agreement at Rs 1.63 crore. Despite Mrinank issuing a cheque for this amount, it later bounced due to insufficient funds when Pant attempted to deposit it at the bank.
Singh has been taken in two days' police custody. He was also found to have been involved in three cases of cheating in Mumbai (Maharashtra), Haryana and Punjab, the police added. Analysis of his mobile phone revealed that there are multiple victims of his fraud and impersonation.