Former cricketer Mrinank Singh was detained as he was trying to escape to Hong Kong on December 25 after duping many, including luxury hotels, resorts, women and even Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant.
From 2014 to 2018, he posed as an IPL cricketer playing for Mumbai Indians. Using this fake identity, he managed to build and immense online persona for himself, amassing more than 40 thousand followers on Instagram. This helped him influence women and scam luxurious hotels, bars, and resorts, including the Taj Palace in Mumbai.
He stayed at the Taj Palace Hotel for almost a week in July, 2022. He told the staff that he played for Mumbai Indians in the prestigious Indian Premiere League (IPL). He left the luxury hotel without settling a bill of Rs 5.53 Lakh and told the staff that Adidas would be paying the amount.
“He stayed there for almost a week (in July 2022) and his bill was around Rs 5.6 lakh. He left the hotel saying his sponsor, Adidas, would foot the bill. However, the bank account numbers and card details provided by him turned out to be fake,” said Ravikant Kumar, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi.
The hotel contacted Singh and his manager who assured them that they were going to send the amount through their driver but never followed on with their promise and his phone was found to be switched off later.
A complaint was filed by the director of security of the Taj Palace Hotel at the Chanakyapuri police station on August 22, last year.
On the basis of the hotel’s complaint, a cheating case was filed and a notice was sent to Mrinank Singh’s address but he was not found there.
Knowing that the Police was after him, Singh tried to go off the radar by switching off his phone. He let people know that he was settled in Dubai. Finally, to evade the police completely, he decided to flee to Hong Kong but was detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport by immigration officials on December 25, nearly a year after the incident.
Now a seasoned conman, Singh tried to play the next trick he had up his sleeve. This time, he tried to assume the identity of an IPS officer from Karnataka, something he had done at other times before to pull his cons.
When he was finally detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport by immigration officials while trying to fly to Hong Kong on Monday (25 December), he tried to “influence” immigration officials by claiming to be the son of Karnataka ADGP Alok Kumar and by “pretending to call senior police officers”, The Hindu reported citing Delhi Police’s Ravikant Kumar. Unfortunately for Singh, this new identitity he donned didn’t work and was arrested by the Police.
Even then, he tried to mislead the authorities by claiming that his father, Ashok Kumar Singh played for the Indian Cricket Team in the 1980s through the 90s and was working as a manager at Air India now.
Notably, this wasn’t the first time Singh had an encounter with the Police. He was arrested for allegedly cheating a Jalandhar-based businessman of Rs 5.75 lakh in August this year, but was able to secure bail later, reported The Print.
Singh is a Commerce graduate from Delhi University’s Hindu College and completed an MBA in Human Resources from OPJS University in Rajasthan, according to the police.
Upon scanning his phone, the authorities found questionable material there including his pictures with women. They also found some evidence that incriminated him of purchasing drugs.
According to the police, Mrinank Singh cheated India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant of Rs 1.6 crore, back in 2021. Singh, who played for the Haryana Under-19 team, knew pant from a cricket academy. He allegedly scammed Pant for Rs 1.6 crore by promising to get him expensive watches at “reasonable rates”.
Singh, a resident of Faridabad has been disowned by his family, as "they have no control over him." The accused has been remanded for 2 day police custody and a probe is underway.
