India's wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been at the receiving end of a big scam by Haryana cricketer Mrinank Singh. Pant has been cheated for Rs 1.63 crore by Mrinank, who offered to get him high-priced watches at a “reasonable rate”.
Moreover, he also took luxurious items, including jewellery, and didn’t return them to the Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper.
Mrinank is currently serving his time in a jail in Mumbai after he was arrested by Juhu police for frauding a businessman in the city.
In an exclusive interview with Sports Tak, Pant’s lawyer Eklavya Dwivedi opened up on the turn of events.
See Also: Rishabh Pant is right choice for Delhi Capitals' captaincy- Coach Ricky Ponting
“This is basically a case under negotiable instruments act where the cheque issued by the accused Mr. Mrinank Singh has been dishonoured on account of insufficient funds. To take the story back a little bit, how these two met, how it actually transpired and why this cheque was issued was sometime in 2020 or 2021. Mr. Mrinank Singh, who was known to my client Rishabh Pant through their cricketing commonalities. They met somewhere in the zonal cricket academy camp,” Dwivedi said.
“So in 2021, Mr. Mrinank Singh falsely misrepresented to my client that he has just started a new business dealing in luxury items and he could procure the same items for it at a very reasonable cost. Therefore, on this proposal, he transferred a sizeable account to Mr. Mrinank Singh and also parted with certain luxurious items, jewellery etc which were also for, relatively high amounts, anticipating that the accused Mrinank Singh would be able to resell the same and give him huge profits for it.”
“After a while, when he was not able to obtain those articles, we gave him a legal notice and a mutual settlement was arrived at Rs 1.63 crore for which Mr. Mrinank Singh issues us a cheque. Now, once we presented this cheque before the bank authorities, we got a return memo saying that there has been a dishonourment of the cheque and it has bounced because of insufficient funds,” he further explained.
Singh had duped Rishabh Pant for Rs 1.63 crore last year in February through a bounced cheque. As per Dwivedi, the amount is somewhere between Rs 1.8 to 1.9 crore after adding the interest.
“He was not present in the last listing of our case before the magistrate. So, the magistrate has issued directors to the SHO over there (police authorities) to connect him virtually at the next date of hearing, which is July 19. He will be present that day and his statement will be recorded. We have also filed an application under section 143A for interim compensation. That will also be taken up and arguments will be heard on that,” Dwivedi concluded.
(With India Today inputs)
