PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Haldwani
In a major action concerning Epic Victory Cricket League fraud, Kathgodam police have arrested an accused identified as Vikas Dhaka who had allegedly defrauded two team owners of a total of Rs 32 lakh in the name of organising the cricket league. Notably, Nainital SSP, Manjunath T C had uncovered a major fraud involving the much-talked-about EVCL held at the Indira Gandhi International Stadium in Gaulapar. Two bank accounts linked to the accused’s transactions have also been frozen, police said.
As per the police, plaintiffs Hemant Sharma, a resident of Jhajjar (Haryana), and a former MLA from Sitarganj and a resident of Haldwani, Narayan Pal had filed a complaint at the Kathgodam police station on February 5, alleging that Vikas Dhaka, the organiser of the proposed league, had extorted lakhs of rupees from them in the name of organising the league.
Based on the complaint, FIRs had been registered at Kathgodam police station. Considering the seriousness of the case, Nainital SSP had promptly constituted a police team and directed the immediate arrest of the accused.
The team, formed under the supervision of the superintendent of police Haldwani, Manoj Kumar Katyal and circle officer Amit Kumar Saini and led by the police station head Vimal Mishra arrested the accused from Malla Kathgodam on Friday.
Police investigation revealed that the accused had deceived the team owners, saying that many international and Ranji players, including Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar and Manpreet Gony, would participate in the league.
