Molestation case: Indian player warned Zohal Hamid to drop case against IPL player Luke Pomersbach?

May 21, 2012

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New Delhi, May 21: In a fresh twist to the alleged molestation of an American national at an IPL party on Friday, an Indian member of IPL's Team Bangalore allegedly helped accused cricketer Luke Pomersbach, first when the Australian tried to enter the victim's room a second time and again by warning her to drop the case.

The victim, Zohal Hamid, told TOI that a "skinny Indian guy" had tried to get Pomersbach into her room after he had attempted to molest her and attacked her partner, Sahil Peerzada. The same man, she said, approached her at Primus Hospital later that day, and asked her to withdraw the charges against his teammate.

Based on CCTV footage, police have identified the cricketer as K P Appanna, a left-arm spinner from Karnataka who has played several games for Team Bangalore in the current IPL season. Despite several attempts, the team management could not be contacted on phone, and did not answer an e-mailed questionnaire on Appanna's alleged role in the affair.

Delhi Police officials said they would investigate the matter. "This is a fresh allegation and we are investigating it. We have identified the man with Luke in the CCTV footage as IPL player Appanna," said Additional CP (New Delhi) K C Dwivedi.

The CCTV footage obtained from the hotel shows Luke, along with hotel security guard Vikas Yadav and another man - identified by cops as Appanna - walking out of the lift towards Zohal's hotel room.

While the man, along with the guard, is seen walking towards the room, Luke hangs back. The Australian later walks towards the room and then backtracks after being refused entry.


Delhi Police officials told TOI that Appanna had come to ask Zohal if a Bangalore team official was in the room. Zohal claimed to TOI that when she opened the door slightly, the "skinny Indian guy" tried to force it open, even as Luke too tried to barge in.

"I was trying to close the door because I was already very frightened and Sahil was lying inside the room all bloody and beaten up. The skinny Indian guy and Luke tried to open the door while I had to force it shut. The hotel guard was standing outside doing nothing to help me," she alleged.

Zohal told TOI that she was approached by different men at the Primus Hospital and later at the ITC Maurya Sheraton hotel who threatened her, and asked her to drop the charges against Luke. Among these men, the same "skinny Indian guy" threatened her, she said.

"There was a big white guy with Luke at the hospital on Friday morning. He was wearing a yellow t-shirt or a shirt and wanted to talk to me. He was outside the hospital entrance and kept saying something to me. All I heard was 'Drop the charges' and I ran inside the building to avoid him," she said.

Later, when Sahil's wound was being stitched, Zohal said another person approached her but she refused to speak to him. "He was this short chubby guy and said that he was from the IPL team. He identified himself as Avinash and gave my friend his number, asking me to call him. I was really scared."

She said that this person was accompanied by the same "skinny Indian guy" who had tried to enter her hotel room along with Luke earlier in the day. "This skinny Indian guy kept following me back and forth, while I was rushing around inside the hospital. I screamed at him, 'Leave me alone' but he would not let me go and kept following me. He told me, 'Withdraw the case. It's not going to take you anywhere', but I rushed away from him. I mentioned this to the police as well but they have not written it in the FIR," she said.

She also said that when she returned to the hotel on Friday morning to collect her belongings, there were five-six "white men" waiting at the entrance of her room to speak to her. "I rushed inside. The men wanted to speak to me but I was in shock and felt in danger after what had taken place a short while ago. I didn't allow anyone to come into my room. Even when we were leaving, the men were still standing there and tried to talk to me."


Zohal said cops had told her that they would scrutinize the CCTV footage, adding that these incidents took place between 10 and 11.20am. "I can identify the guys if I see the footage. One of them had either white or sharp blonde hair," she said.

Asked about the allegations, additional CP Dwivedi said, "The FIR was registered at 10.30am and the alleged incident happened at 11.30am when she went to pick up her clothing. Moreover, the statement on which the FIR was based was in English, dictated and signed by her."

Meanwhile, cops recorded Sahil Peerzada's statement. "He told us that he and Zohal had moved to Maurya Sheraton from Hotel Leela on May 16. The room had been booked through Hyderabad IPL team owner Venkat Ram under Sahil's name. He said after the party on Friday morning, Luke accompanied them to his suite for drinks and then molested the complainant. When Sahil tried to stop him, Luke punched him repeatedly and he fell down," a senior officer said.


Sahil also said Zohal was his girlfriend and that he had known her for six years, the officer said.

Cops are waiting to record the statements of Sahil's friends Miraz and Moiz, who were inside the hotel room at the time of the alleged incident. "Both flew to Mumbai on Friday, after Sahil was admitted in hospital. We have asked them to come to Delhi to give their statement on what took place inside room 1640, where Zohal and Sahil were staying. We will be questioning them closely as soon as they come to Delhi," said a senior police officer.

Cops claim that they want submit the case chargesheet soon, and are hoping to finish their investigations within a fortnight.

Meanwhile, as rumours did the rounds that Zohal had earlier been married to Mumbai-based businessman Shlok Bhagtiani, Zohal told TOI, "I know him as Sahil's friend. Sahil tells me he has known Shlok for two years."



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Agencies
January 24,2020

Mumbai, Jan 24: Former Indian cricket captain and former MP Mohammad Azharuddin on Thursday denied allegations of cheating levelled by a travel agency in Maharashtra and threatened to file defamation suit of ₹100 crore.

"Those who filed the FIR have done it only to be in the limelight. There is no truth in it. The allegations are baseless," Azharuddin said in a video message on Twitter.

Azahruddin, who is now president of Hyderabad Cricket Association, said he would soon seek advice from his lawyer and will file Rs 100 crore defamation case against those who lodged the FIR.

A case was filed in Aurangabad on Wednesday against Azharuddin and two others for allegedly cheating a local travel agent of around ₹21 lakh.

The complaint was lodged by Shahab Y. Mohammed, 49, proprietor of Danish Tours & Travels here, a former executive with the defunct Jet Airways.

"We have lodged a first information report against Mujeeb Khan (Aurangabad), Sudheesh Avikkal (Kerala), Mohammed Azharuddin (Hyderabad). No arrests have been made and further investigations are underway," Investigating Officer A.D. Nagre, of the City Chowk police station, told IANS.

According to the complainant, between November 9 and 12, 2019, Avikkal booked several international airline tickets and Azharuddin's personal secretary Mujeeb Khan promised to pay the ticket charges. He said since no payment was made, he was compelled to lodge the police complaint.

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News Network
May 26,2020

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field.

Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball.

"Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we would have been the best of the enemies. I would have loved to get inside the head of Kohli. I would have told him that you cannot play a cut or pull shot against me," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I would have gone wide of the crease and bowled a ball that would go away from him, I would have forced him to drive the ball as it is his favourite shot. So I would keep forcing him to play the drive shot at my pace," he added.

Akhtar also said that he wishes that Kohli could have played against some of the top bowlers in the game.

The Rawalpindi Express said that Kohli would have enjoyed the challenge of facing bowlers like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, and Waqar Younis.

"I would also keep talking to him, because if I get him to lose his focus then that would have been great. The great thing about Kohli is that he gets more focused when he is challenged. But I believe Virat Kohli would have still scored the same amount of runs if I was playing," Akhtar said.

"I really wish that he had played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, and then Virat would have also enjoyed the challenge," he added.

Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Tests rankings.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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