A 25-year-old former cricketer was arrested for allegedly duping a five-star hotel in Delhi of more than Rs 5 lakh, police said on Wednesday.

Mrinank Singh, a resident of Haryana's Faridabad, represented the state's cricket team at the under-19 level. He also claimed to represent a team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), they said.

Singh is accused of duping multiple luxury hotels owners/managers across India by posing as a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. A famous Indian cricketer is also allegedly among his victims.

The accused came up with different modus operandi and posed as a senior IPS officer to dupe five-star hotels and resorts. He posed as a player for an IPL franchise and used his "stardom" to dupe women and live a luxurious life, the police said.

Singh claimed to be the ambassador for an international sports brand and cheated sports equipment showrooms. He also claimed to be closely connected with several Indian cricketers, they said.

On August 22, 2022, a complaint was received at Chanakyapuri police station from the director of security of a five-star hotel in central Delhi. In the complaint, it was alleged that Singh posed as a cricketer and stayed in the hotel July 22-29, 2022, a senior police officer said.

He left the hotel without settling the Rs 5,53,362 (Rs 5.53 lakh) bill. When asked for payment, Singh said his sponsor would settle the bill and, accordingly, the hotel shared its bank details, the officer said.

The UTR number of an online transaction for Rs 2 lakh was sent to the hotel but that was found to be dubious. Following this, the hotel contacted Singh and his manager Gagan Singh.

Singh told the hotel that he would send his driver with the cash but no one arrived, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Ravikant Kumar said.

He was contacted several times to clear the dues but made false promises and provided wrong information to the hotel every time.

Following this, a case under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Chanakyapuri police station, Kumar said.

During the investigation, a notice was sent to his address but he was not found present. His mobile phone remained switched off and most of his communications were on social media, the police said.

His acquaintances were made to believe that he was not in India and had settled in Dubai. Subsequently, a non-bailable warrant was issued against him and a lookout circular issued, Kumar said.

Singh was arrested at IGI Airport on Monday while trying to fly to Hong Kong. During his detention, Singh attempted to influence the investigating officers by posing as a senior IPS officer, Kumar said.

He revealed that he duped multiple luxury resorts/hotels of lakhs of rupees by posing as a cricketer for an IPL team. Further analysis of his mobile phone revealed that there were multiple victims of his fraud and impersonation, the police said.

Singh has been taken in two days' police custody. He was also found to have been involved in three cases of cheating in Mumbai (Maharashtra), Haryana and Punjab, the police added.

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