The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, September 11, 2003, Chandigarh, India

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2 missing cricketers arrive in Amritsar
Varinder Walia and Ashok Sethi

Rajwant Kaur, one of the five cricketers who went missing, at Rajasansi airport in Amritsar on Wednesday.
— Tribune photo by Rajiv Sharma

Rajasansi (Amritsar), September 10
In a dramatic turn to the sensational case of five Indian women cricketers who went missing after reaching England, two of the girls, Rajwant Kaur and Parvesh Rani, landed at Rajasansi International Airport along with other members of the team by Turkmenistan Airlines here today.

However, mystery still shrouds the disappearance of the remaining three team-mates, Baljit Kaur, Ekta Andotra and Mandeep Virk, who failed to reach here. The team had gone to England on August 9 for a one-month tour.

Mediapersons vied with each other to get first hand information about the disappearance which had hit the headlines all over the world. An unsavoury situation occurred when certain persons who had reached the airport to receive the two missing girls tried to prevent the media from seeking information. Then a group of mediapersons pushed them back till
they left the airport in a huff.

Interestingly, Rashmi, daughter of Ravi Sharma, who also accompanied the team, was whisked away by intelligence agencies from the back door immediately after arrival and was not allowed to interact with the media.

Both the ‘missing cricketers’ claimed that they had gone visiting their relations on August 12 — the free day — after playing the cricket match at Hounslow and lost their way while returning to their place of stay. However, the UK police in its communication dated September 8 had alleged that both Rajwant and Parvesh were not very cooperative and did not elaborate on the circumstances of their disappearance or the whereabouts of the other three girls. Meanwhile, the captain of the team, Renu, a resident of Amritsar who also returned with the team defended the role of Ravi Sharma and claimed that he had taken the girls cricket team to England for playing matches. The other members of the team who returned included Gurdip Kaur, Sonia Handa, Minakshi, Sumita, Sharnjit Kaur, Kiranjit and Manjit. They said that they enjoyed their cricket tour which was planned for three weeks.

The communication from the metropolitan police service (Hounslow Borough Division) had further stated that the Ravi Sharma, coach and organiser of the team touring England, had complained on August 13 that five girls had gone missing without any ‘explanation’. The complaint had also alleged that the girls had taken some of their clothings and luggage with them. The report added that Ravi Sharma provided the police passports of the five missing girls. On August 25, Sharma had told the UK police that Rajwant Kaur and Parvesh Rani had returned to the team’s home address.

Talking to the mediapersons both the ‘missing girls’ gave contradictory statements claiming that they never wanted to stay back in England as alleged by media reports. They claimed that they got panicky after learning about the ‘misleading reports’ in the English media from India that they had left the cricket tour and went missing. However, Rajwant claimed that since they had lost their way, both of them had gone to meet their relations in Nottinghamshire. The girls said they had then called up their parents to get the cell number of their coach, Ravi Sharma, and this was how they could reach the place of their stay.

Later, talking to a group of mediapersons, both the girls gave diametrically opposite statements that they were ‘duped’ by Ravi Sharma who had allegedly taken Rs 2 lakh each from them while promising them a six-month stay in England.

Women cricketers to file complaint against manager
Varinder Singh & J.S. Malhotra
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 10
In a dramatic turn of events, two of the five women cricketers of the controversial Lynex Cricket Club-Rajwant Kaur and Parwesh who allegedly went missing in London on August 12 today said that Ravi Sharma, the manager of the club, had committed a fraud by charging a hefty sum of Rs 2 lakh each on the promise that he would arrange a six-month British visa for them.

While denying the reports that they had gone to England to finally get settled there by using illegal means, they said that they had decided to formally lodge a complaint with the police authorities at Ambala and Jalandhar against Ravi Sharma for breach of trust and cheating.

Earlier, Rajwant Kaur of the local Sudarshan Park locality and Parwesh, who hails from Ambala, reached Rajwant’s house late in the evening.

Talking to The Tribune, Rajwant Kaur disclosed that she along with her family members were assured by Ravi Sharma that according to a set plan, the players would first visit Sri Lanka to play some cricket matches there. Subsequently, after their return from Sri Lanka, they would apply for a six-months visa to visit England for participation in a cricket tournament in Hunslow in West England. Rajwant said: “Ravi Sharma told us that we would play matches in England for a month and during the rest of the period we could earn a hefty amount by undertaking some job there.”

“He promised to arrange a six month visa for a sum of Rs 2 lakh, which my parents arranged through high interest borrowing. It was only when we reached at Amritsar international airport on August 10 that we came to know that the duration of the visa was of just one month. Our hopes have crashed and we feel humiliated and deceived,” said an anguished Rajwant.

Parwesh said the team only played two matches in England. “Five of us had gone missing while we were going to see the Southhall gurdwara. Then we contacted our relatives who located us and helped us rejoin our team and Ravi Sharma,” she said. She said during the enquiry, the British police absolved them and told that they could stay till the expiry of their visa. She said they did not know anything about the whereabouts of the three girls who were yet to return to India.

Earlier, when parents of certain girls had levelled similar allegations against Ravi Sharma, he had vehemently denied the allegations and had maintained that he was paid just Rs 90,000 by each of players, which included the cost of tickets and expenses on board and lodging.

Mr Jagjit Singh, father of Rajwant Kaur, alleged that since they were deceived by Ravi Sharma they were going to lodge a complaint against him with the local police.