SURAT: The lure of getting to play in the Ranji Trophy, country’s premium longer format league, proved costly for a city-based cricketer who was duped of Rs 27 lakh by a multi-state gang.
At the centre of the racket is former woman cricketer from Himachal Pradesh, Sapna Kumari Randhawa (32). She was arrested on Wednesday by the economic offence cell of city police following a complaint filed by 29-year-old Bhavik Patel, a resident of Navsari. Apart from a former cricketer, the complaint also mentions the name of an official of a state association making the racket murkier.
Patel’s complaint states that Randhawa extracted Rs 14.50 lakh from him while her aid Vishal pocketed Rs 12.50 lakh. Though Patel never played in Ranji Trophy, Vishal managed to get him in Nagaland’s T20 team. Patel played his only match against Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in February 2019.
Patel who hails from Navsari, shifted his base to Surat in 2017, and started coaching at the Lalbhai Cricket Academy. In 2018 he was a part of a Surat team that participated in a tournament organized at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh. Ram Chauhan, one of the organizers of the event, told Patel that if he is ready to spend money he can play in the Ranji Trophy.
After Patel showed interest, Chauhan arranged a meeting with Randhawa in Jalandhar in 2018. Randhawa told Patel that to play Ranji matches he will have to make fake documents of different state associations. The deal was struck. Patel was offered six matches in a year across all the three formats in return of Rs 22 lakh. Randhawa demanded Rs 5 lakh within a week and Patel paid Rs 10,000 as advance.
A few days later, Patel along with Chauhan went to Kangra in Himachal Pradesh where they met Randhawa and her brother Ravindra Singh. He paid cash Rs 3 lakh to start the procedure to make fake documents. After returning to Surat, he deposited Rs one lakh each in a bank account of one Sushilaben and Jinu Tanwar. After a few days Randhawa asked for Rs 2 lakh for her brother-in-law’s treatment which Patel deposited in her bank account. After paying a total of Rs 12.50 lakh Patel did not get a chance to play a single match.
Later, Randhawa ensured him a place in the Assam team. As instructed, Patel went to Guwahati and met one Dhanwant Tiwari who gave him some fake documents and also asked him to fill up a BCCI form. But he never received a call up from the selectors.
In February 2019 Randhawa asked Patel to go to Nagaland and meet one Vishal. Patel went to the office of Nagaland State Cricket Association. After giving the reference of Vishal, joint secretary of the association, Ahidur Rahman, filled up his form and allowed him to join the state team camp, the complaint states. Vishal took Rs 12.50 lakhs from Patel for this favour and later he made his T20 debut against Jharkhand.
Patel also played in the Nagaland Premier League. But the Ranji Trophy promise never materialized. After several failed attempts to get his money back, Patel filed a complaint with Surat police on January 20, 2022. Police registered an offence under IPC section 420 (cheating and dishonestly) and arrested Randhawa.
