Vijay Zol – the former captain of the country’s U-19 cricket team – has been accused of kidnapping, extortion and intimidation by a cryptocurrency investment manager, according to a report by Hindustan Times’ Marathi news website. The report said police in Maharashtra’s Jalna had filed a case against 15 people, including Zol, who is also the son-in-law of a local leader, on Tuesday.
According to the Marathi Hindustan Times report, Zol – also son-in-law of Arjun Khotkar, a Shiv Sena leader with Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde’s faction – is accused of threatening entrepreneur Kiran Kharat with a pistol over a cryptocurrency transaction.
According to the report, Kharat, the complainant, claims that Zol made a cryptocurrency investment, but when the value dropped, he and his brother came home and threatened to kill him.
Zol has not reacted to the incident so far.
The investment manager is, however, also charged with fraud after a man filed a complaint accusing him of cheating other investors. The complainant claims that Kharat and his wife defrauded him of ₹12.5 lakhs by luring him with the promise of big returns.
A fraud complaint was filed against the Kharats at another police station in Jalna.
Cases relating to cryptocurrency fraud are unfortunately becoming frequent. Last week police in Khandeshwar unearthed a scam said to be worth ₹30 crore. The gang promoted the scheme of a company called Coin Zx by holding seminars in various locations.
Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das has called for a ban on cryptocurrencies, calling them ‘nothing but gambling’ and saying ‘perceived value is nothing but make-believe’.