19-year-old cricketer duped of Rs 24 lakh with promise of spot in Rajasthan Premier League

CHIKKODI: A young cricketer and his family from Chinchani village in Chikkodi taluk were duped of Rs 24 lakh by cyber fraudsters by promising him a place in the Rajasthan Premier League. The 19-year-old has played cricket at the state level and fell for the trap hoping to make it big.

Rakesh Yadure had visited Hyderabad for a state-level cricket tournament in May 2024 where some national level selectors too were apparently present. Rakesh had put up a good performance in the tournament.

Four months after he returned, he received a message on Instagram from the handle Sushant_srivastava1 promising him a spot in the Rajasthan Premier League along with an application form. He was offered Rs 8 lakh apart from a fee of Rs 40,000 per match. Between December 2024 and April 2025, the cyber fraudsters got Rakesh to pay Rs 23,55,550 giving various reasons.

Rakesh said he was promised that the team cricket kit would be delivered to him on April 30, but when nothing arrived, they got suspicous. The cyber fraudster would also evade his calls and messages. The family then got suspicous and lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police in Belagavi.

Police Superintendent Bheemashankar Guled said, “These days, more and more youngsters are becoming victims of cyber crime. Rakesh’s father works as a security guard with KSRTC and despite poverty, they arranged the money hoping it will help Rakesh. People should not fall for messages received online. We have taken the case seriously and launched an investigation”.