Dubbed as the ‘Powerhouse of Sports’, Manipur has a legacy of creating some of the finest athletes in the country. But a case of scam and fraud has emerged amid the tall achievements in which over Rs 13 lakh had been looted from parents of 34 young aspiring sports players.
The accused, one Nganbam Kadamjit from Thoubal had promised to give the youths proper football training at the Kick Start Football Club, Bangalore and allegedly swindled different amounts of money out of the parents.
The accused and his parents, Ngangbam Surchandra and Memory have reportedly absconded and are still at large.
The parents demanded authorities to capture and punish the culprits and refund the respective amounts swindled to the parents.
Speaking to the media at Manipur Press Club on Monday, president of Apunba Football Parents’ Association Thingbaijam Sushila highlighted that the 34 youths hailed from various districts in Manipur and were selected during a two-day trial at Th Birchandra Singh Football Academy, Toubungkhok early this year.
“Kadamjit informed that the youths would be directly given training at Bangalore if they were selected during the trial. On February 23, he took the selected kids to Bangalore and upon arrival the kids were informed that they still had lots of trials which they had to go through before the training began,” she said.
She mentioned that the kids and parents faced immense financial difficulties in preparing for the trials and had to drop out eventually.
Only one youth was able to appear at the trial and he was selected at the academy, she informed.
She added that the youths who had to drop out did not even have enough money for the return journey to Manipur but fortunately reached the state on March 10.
“Kadamjit never delivered on his promise and treated the youths with disgrace while in Bangalore. On top of that, he is evading the parents intentionally due to fear of legal repercussions,” she said.
She mentioned that the parents had gone to Kamdamjit’s residence on several occasions and demanded his mother and father to refund the money swindled by their son.
Instead they picked fights with the children’s parents and started unnecessary arguments and now they have absconded, she added. She pointed out that the youths who returned to Manipur had been greatly demoralized and their passion for sports had been uprooted.
“This is a great loss for the state which prides itself on producing world class athletes. We want Kamdamjit’s football academy at Thoubal Academy to be shut down immediately and want justice for the entire difficulties he had put the kids and the parents through,” she said.
