In a recent turn of events, a 25-year-old conman, Mrinank Singh, was apprehended at Delhi airport while attempting to flee the country. The police revealed that Singh had successfully deceived several five-star hotels, accumulating lakhs of rupees, and even duped cricketer Rishabh Pant of ₹1.63 crore.
According to Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Ravikant Kumar, Singh had planned to fly to Hong Kong on Monday. However, immigration officials detained him upon discovering a lookout circular issued against him, subsequently handing him over to the police.
During his detention, Singh attempted to influence officials by falsely claiming to be the son of an Additional Director General of Police from Karnataka. He even pretended to contact senior police officers to escape legal consequences.
Mrinank Singh, a resident of Faridabad and a former cricketer who represented the Haryana Under-19 cricket team, graduated from Delhi University’s Hindu College and completed an MBA from Rajasthan’s OPJS University.
The investigation into Singh’s activities began when a complaint was filed on August 22 by the director of security at Taj Palace Hotel. Singh had posed as a cricketer for the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians, staying at the hotel from July 22 to 29 and accruing a bill of ₹5,53,362. When asked to settle the dues, he claimed that sporting goods maker Adidas would cover the expenses, providing the details of his manager, ‘Gagan Singh.’ It was later discovered that the manager was a fictitious persona, and Adidas had no knowledge of Mrinank Singh.
Singh constantly changed locations, turned off his phone, and refrained from updating his social media profiles to evade authorities. However, police teams managed to track him down, leading to his arrest.
After producing Singh in court, he was taken into police custody for two days. The authorities believe that there may be more victims, and the investigation is ongoing, with Singh’s mobile phone being analyzed for further evidence.
A senior officer revealed that Rishabh Pant was among Singh’s victims, having been cheated out of ₹1.63 crore during the 2020-21 period.
