Bhopal: The police have registered a case against cricketer Shashank Singh, who played for the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and his father Sailesh Singh, a retired IPS officer, after their cook alleged that he had been verbally abused, assaulted and confined against his will by them.
The case was registered at Ratibad Police Station in Bhopal on Monday following the complaint of 31-year-old Vipendra Singh Tomar, who started working at Singh’s house only recently, as reported by Hindustan Times.
The driver of the family is also a co-accused in the case that is under investigation, ANI reported.
The cricketer has refuted the allegations though and said that Tomar was clicking photographs and capturing videos of their home in his mobile phone privately.
Tomar is from Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district and was employed as a cook at Singh’s family residence in Bhopal’s Mendori village. He got the job through an acquaintance.
He was promised a salary of Rs 15,000 along with free accommodation and food at Shailesh Singh’s Nilbad bungalow, Tomar has claimed in a written complaint. He was also assured of assistance in securing a government job in future, the cook said.
Things, however, took a bad turn for Tomar within hours of taking up the job. In his complaint, he claimed that he was subjected to verbal abuses and intense mental pressure over complaints about the quality of food.
The cook claims that he decided to quit the job after observing the abusive behaviour and told him employers that he wanted to go back home. This angered the accused, he said in his complaint.
Tomar said he decided he did not want to work there when he observed the abusive work environment and realised that the work was too much on the first day of his job, while talking to ANI.
His phone was allegedly taken away when he went to tell his decision to his employer and the accused, Shailesh Singh, asked him, “Why did you come here? Are you here to murder me? Are you here to steal? I will have you investigated. You will have to work, for at least a month”, Tomar claimed.
The complainant also said that the accused tried to intimidate him by saying “I have shot so many people like you”.
He worked for two days, hoping they will give his phone back, but when that did not happen, he locked himself in a room and demanded his phone back, following which, the family’s driver started to break the door down. Then Shashank Singh, the cricketer, came there and asked him to open the door, Tomar alleged.
“As soon as I opened the door, both of them – the driver and Shashank – beat me up like a dog. Shashank’s father and sister also joined them and only stopped when they thought I would die,” the cook said.
Tomar was sent for a medical examination by the police later and it was confirmed that he had visible injury marks on his face and body.
He claimed that as he was being beaten up repeatedly by the accused, he also gave them his Aadhaar Card and everything else they demanded to let him go back.
“He (the accused) asked me to pay back for eating the food there for three days. My brother-in-law sent me Rs 1,000 which I gave to them,” Tomar said, before adding that it was only after they got him to write a statement that they let him go.
“They did not even pay me one rupee for my work,” Tomar claimed.
“They kicked me, beat me up with sticks, shoes, hands, however they could. Shashank Singh, his father Shailesh Singh, their driver, and his sister were involved in beating me,” he added.
The cook said that he had expected help from the cricketer and had opened the door after locking himself in only when Shashank Singh arrived.
“I thought he is their son, he is reasonable, he will help me get out. But as soon as I opened the gate, he abused me and started beating me up badly,” Tomar told ANI.
The police complaint was also filed after he started talking to media, the cook claimed.
An FIR, based on the complaint, was registered under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita – Section 296(B) Obscene acts and public verbal abuse; Section 115(2) Voluntarily causing hurt/assault and Section 3(5) Joint criminal liability (acts done by multiple people with common intention).
The cricketer acknowledged that Tomar had arrived at their residence, posing as a cook. “He knew nothing about cooking and was there for fun. He went about clicking photographs and capturing videos. He even entered my room. There was no physical abuse and there was no attempt to confine him.
“When we found out what he was doing, we suspected that he was there to steal. Fortunately, nothing is missing. My mother also asked him to delete the photographs and videos on his phone,” Shashank Singh told ANI.
