PwD man cheats CM as wheelchair cricket team skipper; booked

MADURAI: A physically-challenged man, who claimed himself as a captain of the Indian team for ‘wheelchair cricket’ was booked for cheating.

Ramanathapuram District Crime Branch on Wednesday night filed a case against Vinothbabu, a resident of Keelaselvanoor, a village in Kadaladi taluk, after he was accused of cheating a businessman B Dinesh Kumar (34) of Annanagar, Chathirakudi, Paramakudi taluk. Investigations revealed that Vinothbabu took a sum of Rs 1 lakh from Dinesh Kumar, the complainant, saying he captained the team representing India, defeated Pakistan on its soil in Karachi and was going to participate in a twenty over (20-20) international Wheelchair cricket tournament to be held in London.

On March 23, Anand Pandiyaraj, a local man took Vinothbabu to a bakery at Peravoor ECR junction and met Dinesh Kumar, the businessman and sought financial support from him citing that Vinothbabu is economically poor and wanted to participate in the international game in March.

Pandiyaraj was also said to have taken Dinesh Kumar to Vinothbabu’s house in the village, where Muniyasamy was introduced to him as a coach. Dinesh Kumar, who believed them, decided to sponsor Vinothbabu and credited Rs 1 lakh to his private bank account on March 24. At last, Dinesh Kumar was told that the team led by Vinothbabu won the finals.

Moreover, Vinothbabu also gave many media interviews that he won the match and also met Chief Minister MK Stalin and Backward Classes Welfare Minister RS Rajakannappan and received accolades. Finally, the police found that Vinothbabu did not participate in any such game and took the money with the intent to cheat.

Based on the complaint, the Ramanathapuram DCB filed the case against him under Sections 406 and 420 of IPC, sources said.