Cricketer To Conman: How A 25-Year-Old Cheated Rishabh Pant Of 1.6 Crores

Mrinank Singh had an infatuation with living a luxury lifestyle, he wanted to dine in expensive restaurants and stay in five-star hotels. The young cricketer had different plans to fulfil his desire to live a luxurious life. Mrinank posed as an IPL cricketer who was part of the Mumbai Indians team to cheat women, international brands dealing with sports accessories. He had a backup identity too, in case he ever got caught.

Cricketer to Conman

The 25-year-old, presently a conman and formerly a U-19 cricketer for Haryana, cheated multiple luxury hotels and resorts and even India's wicketkeeper-batsman, Rishabh Pant. The conman operated in a particular way to cheat brands, and people. 

He posed as an IPL cricketer who played for the Mumbai Indians from 2014 to 2018. He used this claim to create an impression that he was "popular". It helped him influence women, dine in expensive restaurants and stay in five-star hotels without paying bills.

In 2022, the conman stayed at the Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi for a week. He left the luxury hotel without settling a bill of Rs 5.53 Lakh and told the staff that he was a cricketer and Adidas would be paying the amount. The hotel staff believed him and shared the bank details. He shared an ID of a transaction worth Rs 200,000 lakh, but it turned out to be fake, the police said. The hotel tried to contact him several times to pay the dues, but he gave false promises until he switched his phone off and the police were made aware of the incident.

The man knew that the police were after him, so he kept his phone off to not leave any trace of his whereabouts. He made his acquaintances believe that he was settled in Dubai. A lookout notice was issued against him and the man was detained at the immigration office of the Delhi airport while he was trying to escape to Hong Kong on December 25, almost a year after the incident.

The Backup Identity

The conman made another attempt to cheat people and this time the immigration officials, by using his backup identity as an IPS officer from Karnataka. He posed as Alok Kumar, Additional Director General of Karnataka Police, and called senior police officials to escape arrest and said "He needs help to assist his son Mrinank Singh who has been illegally detained at the Delhi airport," the police said.

The police arrested him, though he tried to mislead the police and claimed that his father, Ashok Kumar Singh, played for the Indian Cricket Team in the late 80s and is currently working as a manager with Air India and is posted at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. 

Cheating Rishabh Pant

On several occasions, he posed as a cricketer or as a senior police officer from Karnataka. He cheated multiple people including, India's star cricketer Rishabh Pant. The police found that he cheated Mr Pant of Rs 1.63 crore in 2020-2021. His other victims include cab drivers, young women, bars, restaurants, etc. The conman has over 40,000 followers on Instagram account, where he has shared several pictures of his "luxury lifestyle". 

The police scanned his phone and found several objectionable photos of him with women and said there was incriminating material present on his phone, which included him being involved in purchasing drugs. The police said several cases have been registered against him in different states.

The police said he is a Commerce graduate from Delhi University's Hindu College. He did an MBA in Human Resources from OPJS University in Rajasthan and his family has disowned him as "they have no control over him." The accused has been sent to a two-day police custody and a probe is underway.