Bengaluru: Samit Dravid, son of former India head coach and captain Rahul Dravid, was on Thursday roped in by Mysuru Warriors during the player auction ahead of the upcoming season of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20.

 

Warriors acquired the services of Samit, a middle-order batsman and a seamer, for ₹50000.

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"It's good to have him in our side as he has shown a lot of promise in various age-group tournaments for KSCA," a Warriors team official told PTI.

Samit was part of the Karnataka under-19 side that won this season's Cooch Behar Trophy, and he has also played for KSCA XI against the visiting Lancashire side earlier this year.

Warriors, the last season's runners-up, will be led by Karun Nair and their bowling will be bolstered by the presence of India pacer Prasidh Krishna, who was bought for ₹1 lakh.

Nair was retained by the franchise, while Prasidh has recently undergone a surgery on his left proximal quadriceps tendon, and is looking to make his way back into the top-flight cricket.

 

Mysore Warriors squad: Karun Nair, Karthik CA, Manoj Bhandage, Karthik S U, Suchith J, Gowtham K, Vidyadhar Patil, Venkatesh M, Harshil Dharmani, Goutham Mishra, Dhanush Gowda, Samit Dravid, Deepak Devadiga, Sumit Kumar, Smayan Srivastava, Jasper EJ, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Sarfaraz Ashraf. 

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Itanagar  (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has carried out coordinated searches at nine locations across Arunachal Pradesh in connection with a suspected large-scale interstate liquor smuggling and money laundering network, officials said on Monday.

The action, taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is part of an expanding probe that points to a syndicate exploiting tax differentials among states.

Officials said liquor designated for sale within Arunachal Pradesh was allegedly diverted and supplied illegally to markets in Assam and other states.

The searches, conducted earlier this week, spanned multiple towns such as Itanagar, Naharlagun, Seppa, Ziro, Daporijo, Namsai and Roing, targeting wholesale liquor businesses suspected of being linked to the network.

According to officials, the investigation stems from a series of FIRs registered by Assam Police over the illegal transportation of liquor from Arunachal Pradesh into Assam.

Inputs from the Assam Excise Department further strengthened the case. An Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered on October 17, 2024, and later widened through an addendum incorporating 173 additional FIRs.

Earlier searches conducted on February 4 last year, at premises linked to three alleged key operators, believed to be major liquor manufacturers, had revealed indications of a well-coordinated operation.

Investigators suspect that the network functioned through a chain of manufacturers, bonded warehouses and wholesalers, while masking real ownership using proxy arrangements such as tribal partnerships and dummy licence holders.

During the latest ED operations, the agency found that several wholesale units were operating under proxy licences issued in the names of local individuals, while actual control remained with the suspected masterminds.

Financial scrutiny revealed that between 51 and 90 per cent of total credits in certain bank accounts comprised unexplained cash deposits.

Investigators also flagged a pattern of invoice splitting, with transactions deliberately kept below Rs 2 lakh to avoid scrutiny. In one instance, more than 200 invoices of identical value of Rs 1,99,554 were generated within a single month at one location.

On-ground staff reportedly confirmed that records, including stock registers and daily cash collections, were being routed to offices associated with the alleged controllers.

The ED said it seized approximately Rs 40 lakh in unaccounted cash during the searches.

In a significant finding, 14 seals, some purportedly belonging to the Excise Department of the Arunachal Pradesh government, were recovered from one of the premises. These are suspected to have been used to create fake transport permits to facilitate the unauthorised movement of liquor.

Further investigation is underway, officials added.