The Kerala Police has registered a cheating case against former Indian cricketer S Sreesanth, news agency PTI reported on Thursday.
The complainant, Sareesh Gopalan, hailing from Kerala’s Choonda, has alleged that two other accused – Rajiv Kumar and Venkatesh Kini – took ₹18.70 lakh from him in the name of constructing a sports academy in Karnataka’s Kollur.
Sreesanth is reportedly a partner in the proposed academy.
Gopalan further alleged that he invested the money after being offered the opportunity to become a partner in the academy.
The former Indian bowler has been named as the third accused in the case. The police have registered the case under Section 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
S Sreesanth, who made his ODI match debut in October 2005, played 53 ODI matches and took 75 wickets. He made his test debut in March 2006 and played 27 matches with 87 wickets.
He was banned by the Board of Contol for Cricket in India (BCCI) for lifetime in August 2013 on charges of spot-fixing during Indian Premier League (IPL) season 6. The Delhi Police had also arrested Sreesanth and two of his Rajasthan Royals teammates, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, over the spot-fixing charges.
In July 2015, he was acquitted in the spot-fixing case. However, in 2019, the Supreme Court had reduced his lifetime ban to seven years, which he completed in September 2020.
Following his ban, he made a comeback after being named in the 20-member squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2021 for Kerala Cricket Association (KCA). In 2021 and 2022, he got shortlisted for the IPL auction but went unsold on both the occasions.
In 2022, the ace bowler had announced his retirement from all formats of cricket. “For the next generation of cricketers. I have chosen to end my first class cricket career. This decision is mine alone, and although I know this will not bring me happiness, it is the right and honorable action to take at this time in my life. I have cherished every moment,” he had said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
(With inputs from PTI)
