Ex-Ranji Cricketer Among 3 Arrested For Running Illegal Phone Exchange

A former cricketer who represented Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy is among three people arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police as it busted an illegal telephone exchange operating in Noida, officials said on Thursday.

Located in Sector 132 of the city, the telephone exchange was used to illegally connect international calls to Indian numbers using VOIP-based bypass, they said.

"The UP Special Task Force had been receiving inputs about an illegal telephone exchange which was being operated from Noida. During investigation, the police traced the server of this exchange and tracked it down at a location in Sector 132 here," Additional Superintendent of Police (STF) Raj Kumar Mishra said.

"Officials of the Department of Telecommunications and Tata Tele Services were also roped in for the verification after which three accused were also arrested from the Sify Data Centre in Block B of Sector 132," Mishra said.

Those arrested have been identified as gang's mastermind Ashutosh Bora, Abhishek Shrivastava and Mohammad Shoib, the investigation agency said.

"During questioning, Bora (35) told officials that he is a BA graduate and a former cricketer who has represented Jharkhand in Ranji Trophy in under 19 and under 23 categories of the tournament," Mishra said.

"Bora said his cricket career did not flourish and he got engaged in cheating and thuggery. He also revealed that he cheated young players on the pretext of getting them to play in the Ranji Trophy and the Indian Premier League (IPL)," the officer said.

Bora has previously been booked by the Mumbai Police and the Haryana Police for cheating and forgery in 2021, he said.

A fresh FIR has been lodged against him in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)