Fake Khelo India Advertisement: Three Arrested In Uttar Pradesh For Duping Grassroot-Level Athletes

The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested three persons involved in circulating a false Khelo India advertisement on social media platforms on Friday.  

The false advertisement invited applications from athletes to take part in the Khelo India Games scheduled to be held in Panchkula in Haryana in 2021. The advertisement asked the athletes to pay R6000 to participate in the Games. The arrests came close to heels of Sports Authority of India (SAI) filing a FIR with the Uttar Pradesh Police.  (More Sports News)

The three persons arrested are Sanjay Pratap Singh, Anuj Kumar and Ravi. Sanjay is an ex-kabaddi player hailing from Agra and had created a fake ID by the name of Rudra Pratap Singh to interact with athletes.

Anuj and Ravi, meanwhile, provided their account numbers of Canara Bank and State Bank branches, where athletes were asked to deposit the money. The accounts have been frozen by the banks and investigation is under process to identify the total number of athletes who had deposited money in the two accounts.

SAI had demanded an immediate probe and action.

"The Sports Authority of India has received several complaints from grassroots-level athletes from across the country that an advertisement has been posted on social media platforms inviting applications to participate in the Khelo India Games scheduled in Panchkula in Haryana in 2021," the governing body said in a statement.

SAI said the advertisement also used "logos of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sports Authority of India and Khelo India, which misled several athletes to believe it to be a government advertisement."