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Journalism of Courage
A 23-year-old Rohtak man has been arrested for allegedly cheating youngsters by promising them entry to county cricket in England through a unique 8216;sporting8217; jobs fraud,police said on Monday.
Manish Redu,who allegedly pretended to have connections with famous cricketers,is accused of duping some 2,500 cricket-crazy boys of sums that could amount to Rs 4 lakh in some cases.
Redu was arrested yesterday after police were tipped off that a famous player would inaugurate a junior cricket league at a Gurgaon school,Deputy Commissioner of Police South Chhaya Sharma said.
Police began investigations into the cricket fraud after one Wasim Akram,who claimed he is a state-level cricketer,complained on March 23 that Redu,whom he had met at a coaching academy in Dwarka,had promised him entry to the English county circuit in exchange for Rs 4 lakh,said an officer.
Redu allegedly took Akram to Hauz Khas to meet the famous player,the officer said. He,however,kept Akram waiting outside while he went into the house,returning after a while to announce that the job had been done.
Akram gave Redu Rs 3 lakh and left,the officer said. Thereafter,Akram tried to contact Redu several times,but found his phone always switched off. On March 23,he went to the police.
Redu began to cheat young people to recover his losses after his sports outfits manufacturing business failed,police said. He conducted county trials in Ghaziabad,Meerut,Gwalior and Agra,collecting Rs 500 from each young cricketer.
Redus interrogation has revealed that he travelled in a Toyota Camry with a red beacon. Police have recovered six scanned Delhi Vidhan Sabha stickers,letterheads of a well known sports club in Delhi,bio data of ten cricketers,20 junior cricket league prospectuses,12 photographs of a former India cricketer,and an air ticket from Delhi to Ranchi.
