In a bizarre case, an acclaimed cricketer with several records to his name landed behind bars after being accused of defrauding people by impersonating former cricketer and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector MSK Prasad.
On Thursday, the Vijayawada City Police arrested Budumuru Nagaraju, a Ranji cricketer in his mid-twenties, from near Gannavaram Airport following a complaint claiming that he was extorting money by impersonating MSK Prasad.
According to the police, Nagaraju, an MBA holder, hails from Srikakulam’s Yavvaripeta of Polaki mandal and currently a resident of Madhurawada in Visakhapatnam. Having played in several Ranji tourneys, including South Zone (2011) and Central Zone (2013), Nagaraju aspired to become a professional cricketer.
According to ACP Central Y Ankineedu Prasad, the cricketer played in Ranji Trophy in 2014 representing the Andhra team. In 2016, he attempted to enter into the Guinness book for the ‘Longest individual cricket net session (male)’ after playing an incredible 82 hours in the nets. While the police claimed that he had won the record, TNM could not independently verify the same. The official Guinness website lists Virag Mare as the record holder with 50 hours in the nets.
The officer said, “Following the successes in his career, Nagaraju started getting sponsorships from different firms and got habituated to a luxurious lifestyle. In 2018 with a motive to earn easy money, he duped a person called N Gopal claiming that he would establish a Dhoni Cricket Academy in Visakhapatnam. Gopal filed a complaint and a case was registered at that time in Visakhapatnam.”
Police said he was later arrested in two other cases in Visakhapatnam. In one case, he allegedly extorted Rs 60,000 from Care Hospital after posing as the PA of Andhra Minister Ganta Srinivas Rao. Then in February this year, he duped a person called Manoj by taking Rs 20,000 from him by assuring him T20 match tickets.
Police said Nagaraju didn’t change even after coming out on bail but continued to involve himself in duping people. The officer said, “He closely observed MSK Prasad in a few prize distribution sessions and noted how he speaks. Then he changed his profile name to MSK Prasad on the Truecaller app, after which he impersonated the former cricketer and collected Rs 2.88 lakh claiming that he represented Kolkata Knight Riders.”
In another case, Nagaraju collected Rs 3.88 lakh using a similar modus operandi (impersonating MSK Prasad over a phone call) from Ramakrishna Housing Private Limited.
Police seized Rs 1,80,500 in cash along with a Pulsar bike following Nagaraju’s arrest.