Police on Friday arrested a man for allegedly cheating two businessmen of Rs32 lakh by falsely promising to organise a cricket tournament in Nainital district of Uttarakhand.
Nainital Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manjunath TC said the accused, Vikas Dhaka, was arrested while he was checking out of a hotel in Haldwani.
According to police, Dhaka collected money from the businessmen under the guise of making arrangements and carrying out publicity for an event titled the EVCL Cricket League. He claimed that the tournament would be held at the international cricket stadium in Gaulapar, Haldwani.
The accused allegedly assured the businessmen, including former MLA Narayan Pal, that well-known former international cricketers such as Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan would participate in the tournament.
However, the complainants became suspicious after noticing that no ground-level preparations or promotional activities were underway. They later approached the police and filed a formal complaint.
SSP Manjunath TC said that Dhaka’s bank accounts linked to the alleged fraudulent transactions have been frozen, and further investigation is underway to determine whether more people were duped using a similar modus operandi.
