Budding cricketers duped: Former Under-19 cricketer arrested, fourth in police net

Ravindra Wadekar has been remanded in police custody

THE crime branch of Mumbai police have arrested another man in the case of alleged duping of budding cricketers by promising them berths in domestic cricket and IPL, taking the number of arrests to four. After three arrests earlier, the police had been on the lookout for Ravindra Wadekar (23), who was arrested on Wednesday and remanded in police custody. Wadekar had in the past represented Hyderabad in Under-19 cricket.

Explaining his role, a police officer said Wadekar was the director in one of the companies run by the main accused,
Vijay Barate.

“Wadekar played an important role in approaching youngsters. He would convince them about investing money with the other three accused and collect money on behalf of Barate,” an officer said.

Since he himself had played at the Under-19 level, he knew several aspirants who would be willing to pay up to get break in IPL teams or Ranji matches, an officer added.

According to the police, the accused allegedly duped many youngsters and pocketed Rs 68 lakh over the past one year.

Earlier this month, the police had arrested Vijay Barate (43), Jeevan Mukkadam (28) and Dinesh More (23), for duping over 100 youngsters across the country. Barate, the police said, was the mastermind of the racket and started a “sports club” in 2013, which he managed to get affiliated by an IPL team.

Barate associated his R N Sports Club with the Hyderabad team. It was given the job of hunting for young and talented cricketers.

In the span of their one-year contract, Barate impressed young cricketers with pictures he had clicked with famous cricketers, the police said. The accused approached youngsters and after convincing them of their clout, he promised them breaks.

The police have found that some of the accused were in touch with bookies as well. “We are interrogating the accused to find out who else is involved,” an officer said.