Hyderabad Cricket Association president arrested by Telangana CID for ‘fraud, misappropriating funds’

The Telangana Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday arrested Hyderabad Cricket Association president (HCA) A Jagan Mohan Rao, treasurer C J Srinivas and CEO Sunil Kante in a case of forgery and misappropriation of funds.

Two others, Rajender Yadav and his wife Kavitha, who are members of a Hyderabad-based cricket club, have been taken into custody for questioning in connection with the case.

The three HCA officials were booked by the CID last month on charges of forgery, cheating, using ingenuine and forged document or electronic record, dishonest misappropriation of property, criminal breach of trust and cheating.

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The FIR was lodged based on a June 9 complaint filed by D Guruva Reddy, general secretary of the Telangana Cricket Association, who alleged that Rao had contested the HCA elections in 2023 by furnishing forged documents and, along with the others, usurped the association’s funds worth Rs 2.32 crore.

CID sources said that during investigation, the agency found that Rao had forged a cricket club membership to qualify for contesting the 2023 HCA elections. One of the requirements of being eligible for the HC elections is membership of an HCA-affiliated club.

The sources said the probe also took into consideration a probe by the state vigilance department into allegations by IPL franchise Sun Risers Hyderabad that HCA had forced it to part with a bulk of complimentary passes.

In an email to HCA treasurer Srinivas, SRH manager T B Srinath had alleged that ahead of the match against Lucknow Super Giants on March 27, HCA staff locked the corporate box (for premium viewing) and refused to open it “unless 20 extra free tickets were given to you”. “This act of threatening and blackmailing for complimentary tickets, just a few hours before the start of our game, is not only illegal but also unacceptable as it raises serious concerns about the working relationship between our organisations,” it had said.

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The probe, whose report was submitted to the state government recently, found the HCA was in breach of privileges.

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