Ex-Mumbai Indians cricket player dupes Rishabh Pant of Rs 1.63 crore, arrested

MUMBAI: Delhi police have arrested a former cricket player for evading payment after staying in posh five-star hotels. 25-year-old Mrinank Singh was arrested in the case. It is claimed that Mrinank Singh, who played for the Haryana Under-19 team, represented Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

According to the police, Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant has also been a victim of fraud.

Singh was arrested after police received a complaint saying that the former cricketer hadn’t paid Rs 5,53,362 after staying at a prominent five-star hotel in Delhi for a week. Singh stayed at the hotel during last July and enjoyed all the facilities in the hotel. After one week, he shrewdly escaped from the hotel without paying any.

When confronted, Singh said his sponsor, Adidas would pay. Then he got the details from the hotel, including the account number to which the payment should be made. After a while, a screenshot was given showing that two lakh rupees had been paid. But it was found that the money had not reached the account. Mrinank and his manager were then called and informed about the incident. A complaint was lodged with the police when the money was not received even after the allowed deadline.

The police reached Mrinank's house and learned that the former cricketer was thrown out of the house by his father. It was at this juncture that a lookout notice was issued. An arrest was made on Christmas Day when he arrived at the airport to fly to Hong Kong. A phone check revealed that he had illicit relationships with many young women including models.

Singh approached Rishabh Pant saying that had started a new business related to luxury goods and that he could deliver the premium items at a low price. Believing this, Pant transferred Rs 1.63 crore to buy expensive watches. But the watches never reached the Indian cricketer which made Pant issue a legal notice on behalf of his lawyer. Following this a settlement was reached and a check was issued for the purchase amount. As expected, the check bounced and the payment was halted.