The parent body of tennis in the state has moved decisively to snuff out a ?thriving racket? in extracting money from unsuspecting parents with the carrot of a tennis scholarship in US colleges for their children.

Following a written allegation of ?swindling? against Rashbehari-based Tennis UNLTD and its CEO Sangram Banerjee, Bengal Tennis Association (BTA) has decided to start criminal proceedings against the coach and his organisation if he fails to come clean in a week?s time.

The BTA move comes in the wake of a letter to its honorary secretary Hironmoy Chatterjee, written by the parents of 18-year-old tennis player Puja Paul of Dhakuria.

Puja is currently playing and studying at the Southeast Missouri State University in the US, with a tennis scholarship.

Parbati and Pradip Paul, in their written complaint, levelled charges of a Rs 4.5-lakh fraud against Banerjee, who reportedly fleeced them for months together on the ?pretext of organising Puja?s tennis scholarship? and its ancillary expenses.

To keep meeting Banerjee?s demands for money, the Pauls had to even sell off their Uttarpara apartment and move into a rented place in Dhakuria, they alleged.

By July this year, they had already paid him Rs 4.5 lakh (statements of payment and photocopy of passbook are with Metro).

?Later, we came to know that Sangram not only swindled us by taking money, but he also generated false documents to enable Puja to get the scholarship,? the Pauls wrote. When Puja eventually got through, Banerjee went to the media with ?tall claims? that he had secured scholarship worth Rs 60 lakh for her, whereas the sum of scholarship secured by Puja ?on her own merit? was actually Rs 6 lakh a year, they added.

?He has done absolutely nothing for Puja, except travelling with her to tournaments with the trips funded by us. If any agency actually helped us, it was the American Center,? stressed Puja?s mother. ?He has cheated us and we request you (BTA) to take stern action,? the disconsolate Pauls pleaded in the letter.

The parent body is moving to do just that. ?We want to put an end to this fraud once and for all, so that other parents don?t fall into the same trap,? said the BTA secretary, who was handing over all ?incriminating documents? to the cheating wing of Lalbazar?s detective department.

The state association and the national apex body, the All India Tennis Association, had both ticked off Banerjee before for uploading ?misleading and false claims? on his website (as reported in Metro earlier).

BTA is going a step further this time, notifying all its affiliated units that ?Banerjee can?t be engaged in any tennis-related activities? if found guilty.