IPL team Punjab Kings batter Shashank Singh has denied all allegations levelled against him by his cook, Vipendra Singh Tomar, of assault and physical abuse by the cricketer and his father, Shailesh Singh.
The Bhopal Police booked the two on accusations of subjecting the cook at Shashank’s home to verbal abuse, during which he was even made to pay for the food he ate during his three-day stay at his house. Tomar also made serious allegations of having suffered a physical assault.
In his defence, Shashank refused all such claims, adding that Tomar came to his house to loot him and that he took photographs of his house without his permission, which escalated the matter. Shashank said Vipendra didn’t even know how to cook and came to his home with the intention of robbing him and his family of valuables.
“It was just that thing that this guy came three days back, and he came with an intention of what, looting us. Because he, when we saw his mobile, was making videos of my wardrobe, the places I have kept my watches, my sunglasses, everything. And some decorative items, and a few of them are missing,” Shashank explained in his chat with the Hindustan Times (HT) digital.
Revealing more on this, Shashank said Vipendra knew that, being a cricketer, Shashank wouldn’t stay at home for long. Taking advantage of that, he began by taking photos of Shashank (as a fan) before reaching his wardrobe, clicking photos of everything he could. Upon catching him, Shashank forced him to delete all the photos and videos he had taken.
“And then, obviously, he wasn’t a cook. He already knew, once he came here, that I wouldn’t stay here much. So he took photos and everything, like a fan; he took a photo of me and everything.
“When we saw his mobile, we asked him to delete whatever videos he had taken.
“So, we saw a chat where he was telling his friend that I don’t stay here much and all that. So, obviously, that was the thing, and mummy got very angry. So she shouted, ‘Send him back.’
“So then we sent him back. And obviously, when we sent him back, so obviously, he was the thing that he had come to work, he would work. Because obviously, when my sister was, from day 1, since the 28th, she was telling me to call the police and give him to the cops, because obviously he was looting us,” he continued.
‘False story’
Per ANI, Vipendra, in his complaint at the Ratibad Police Station, claimed that he was promised a salary of INR 15,000 alongside free accommodation with food.
Like how he previously refuted all of his claims, Shashank did so here as well, adding, “He himself came and asked for ₹20,000 in advance. My mother handles all the household chores, so she told him to make food; if we are satisfied, only then will we avail his services. He didn’t know anything about cooking or anything else. And then mobile, we never took his mobile, but yes, when he was taking the videos and everything, then we deleted stuff from his mobile. Because that was very private, where I keep my luxury stuff and everything,” said Shashank.