Cricket / Harbhajan accuses Chennai businessman of cheating him of ₹4cr given as loan

Cricket Desk: Harbhajan Singh, the veteran Indian cricketer, has lodged a complaint with the Chennai police against a businessman, who duped him of Rs 4 crore. The incident came to the light after the businessman, who received the money from Harbhajan, approached the Madras High Court for an anticipatory bail after Singh filed a complaint against his name.

The Jalandhar-born Harbhajan stated that he got introduced to the person, named G Mahesh, through a common friend and he paid the amount as a loan back in 2015. Mahesh, reportedly, lives on the Juhu Beach Road at Uthandi in Chennai. As per the 40-year-old off-spinner, whenever he tried to contact Mahesh, the latter delayed and avoided paying back the loan.

As per reports in The Times of India (TOI), on August 18, a cheque of Rs 25 lakhs, issued by Mahesh, bounced due to insufficient funds. Thereafter, Harbhajan approached the Chennai police commissioner and lodged a complaint against Mahesh and a few others. The petition has been forwarded to the Neelankarai assistant commissioner of police.

Subsequently, the ACP has summoned Mahesh to appear before him for a detailed inquiry. Through his counsels K Surender and Chenthoori Pugazendhi, he filed the anticipatory bail. Mahesh, in his affidavit, said that he had taken a loan from Harbhajan after issuing a property at Thalambur as security.

Harbhajan also had a power of attorney registered on his name. The property, with the document number 3635/2015, was registered at the Thiruporur sub-register. Mahesh mentioned that he had paid all the dues to Harbhajan.

Harbhajan Singh backing out from the IPL

As far as his cricketing career is concerned, he was set to play for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL). However, Singh, who has been a part of CSK since 2018, backed out from playing in the tournament, citing personal reasons.

Many experts reckon that CSK would find it hard to find Harbhajan’s replacement. Harbhajan has played in the IPL since 2008 and donned the Mumbai Indians jersey for the first 10 seasons after which he moved to the Super Kings. He is one of India’s greatest spinners to have played the game.