Charminar Cricket Club secretary accused of cheating aspiring cricketer, booked

Hyderabad: The Charminar police have booked a criminal case against Mahboob Ahmed, secretary of the Charminar Cricket Club, and his cricketer son Adnan Ahmed, for alleged cheating in the cricket selection process.

Money for opportunity

The complaint was filed by K Kalyan Kumar (25) from Neredmet, who identifies himself as a cricketer. He informed the Charminar police that the Hyderabad Cricket Association conducts leagues every year to select the upcoming, talented players in different age groups.

“My desire to enter first-class cricket made me meet Mahboob Ahmed of the Charminar Cricket Club A1 division. Mahboob Ahmed invited me to his house at Hussainialam to fill out forms. He asked me to pay Rs 1 lakh for the opportunity to join the club and play at one down position in the 3-day league matches for 2022-2023.”

He also promised me that I will be in the playing eleven in all formats of the game, and I believed him. “I paid him the first instalment of Rs 30,000 through Google Pay on May 23, 2022. The money was transferred to his son's friend's number. Later, I paid the second instalment of Rs 45,000 through Google Pay on May 31. The final instalment was paid directly to Mahboob Ahmed near Mecca Masjid, Charminar,” he said.

“Despite giving the payments on time, he dropped me from 20-20 matches which were part of the A1 division. I had played only one match in the 3-day league. When I asked him to return my money, Ahmed told me to wait and promised me that I will be included in the team’s next season. I believed him again and waited for the upcoming season,” Kalyan said.

However, when the 2023-2024 season came, he again did not give me the opportunity to play and there was no response from Mahboob Ahmed, Kalyan said.

“In the meantime, I attended selection trials of another club and got selected based on my merit and without paying any money. I continued to ask Mahboob Ahmed to return my money. But he refused and threatened me with dire consequences,” said Kalyan.

“I lost hope of achieving a good cricketing career in a day league team. I also wasted an entire year. I did not get any opportunity to perform. This left me shattered. I was cheated out of my hard-earned money by false promises. He had also cheated other young cricketers by giving similar false promises,” alleged Kalyan.

A case under Sections 406, 420, and 506 under IPC was booked. It is pertinent to note that the above club is a prominent cricketing club and a famous cricketer from it had made it to the top.