LUCKNOW: A govt school teacher from Lucknow fell prey to a ‘pig butchering romance’ scam, an insidious blend of romance, deception, and financial fraud—losing a staggering Rs 49 lakh to a woman he met on a matrimonial platform. Police officials said it was the first such scam in the city. According to the FIR filed with the cyber police, a resident of Jankipuram and an employee of the basic education department came in contact with a woman identifying herself as Isha Desai on June 20, 2025, via the app m4marry. Claiming to be a Mumbai-based textile business owner, she cultivated a relationship with the victim, gradually building emotional trust. Police, on the basis of the FIR, said this emotional manipulation was the first step in what experts describe as a ‘long con’. Thereafter, the accused introduced the teacher to a trading platform—gomarketsuma.com.Initial investments yielded fake profits. Drawn deeper into the scheme, the teacher transferred Rs49 lakh to various bank accounts provided by the accused in six months. A dummy credit of Rs 10 lakh was also reflected in his trading account. The scam took a dramatic turn when the victim attempted to withdraw Rs2.5 lakh. The platform showed a sudden spike in profits—Rs 1 crore — and demanded Rs Rs33 lakh as “tax” to release the funds. “When the teacher refused to give more money and demanded his Rs 49 lakh back, he was allegedly threatened with legal action, including proceedings by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a tactic aimed at inducing fear and compliance,” police said.Realizing the fraud, the teacher approached cyber crime police, who confirmed that the entire operation was part of a coordinated cyber fraud network. Investigators have been provided with key digital evidence, including transaction records, chat logs, the mobile number of the accused, and screenshots of the fake trading platform. Officials said a detailed probe has been initiated. “No genuine platform demands upfront tax for withdrawals,” an officer noted. What is ‘pig-butchering’A cybercrime expert and former IPS officer, Triveni said that this is a textbook ‘pig-butchering’ romance scam, where fraudsters ‘fatten’ the victim emotionally and financially over time like a ‘pig’, and then take away all his wealth, ‘slaughtering’ him financially. “They build trust, show fake gains, and then extract large sums before disappearing. These scams are psychologically engineered and often run by organised international syndicates,” he said.

New Delhi: India head coach Gautam Gambhir has expressed a strong desire to remain through the Los Angeles Olympics. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar wants to stay until the 2027 ODI World Cup. T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has set his sights on 2028 and ODI captain Shubman Gill has locked the ultimate target for South Africa. Every important individual in Indian cricket is focussed on what lies ahead but the biggest irony is that two of the country’s biggest superstars still have to deal with non-committal undertones.Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – two former ODI captains and arguably the finest cricketers to have played the game – are yet to receive public backing for next year’s showpiece in South Africa. “There is still time left,” “the World Cup is nearly two years away,” “we want to focus on the present.” With time, the statements have changed but the sentiment remains the same.

The only reassuring words from the Indian camp came in October 2025 when India’s Test and newly-appointed ODI captain, Gill, supported the two stalwarts. “Absolutely,” Gill said, when asked if he saw Rohit and Kohli playing an important role in ODIs leading into the World Cup. “The experience the two of them have (is immense), and there are very few players who can match the number of matches they have won for India,” he added.Less than a week later, coach Gambhir urged everyone to “stay in the present.”“Look, 50-over World Cup is still two-and-a-half years away, and I think it is very important to stay in the present,” he said in a press conference after India beat West Indies 2-0 in the Test series. “That is very important. Obviously, they are quality players, they are coming back, their experience is going to be a handful in Australia as well. Hopefully, those two guys will have a successful tour, and more importantly, as a team, we will have a successful series.”

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (Screengrab)

Since then, Virat and Rohit have played series against Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and they also squeezed in some List A outings for their respective states in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. While Rohit has lost a lot of weight—”half of him,” according to Brendon McCullum—Virat has gained plenty of intent.Virat, in particular, has switched to beast mode. In his last 10 fifty-over outings, he has hit four hundreds and as many half-centuries. Rohit had quieter showings against New Zealand but he, too, looked menacing in the series against South Africa and Australia. Both right-handers, who have been the backbone of the Indian team for the last two decades, are in the last phase of their careers but continue to fight for survival while chasing the unfinished business from three years ago.India face a packed ODI calendar leading up to next year’s World Cup, and it is imperative that someone from the BCCI calls both Rohit and Virat to discuss their plans. Not the players’ plans, but the board’s plans. The players have their target locked and the onus is now on the Indian cricket board to navigate the situation.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (AP Photo)

The dagger of insecurity hanging over their heads is not ideal for any Indian dressing room, and it’s not a surprise that the ODI set-up remains the most tense one. There are strong murmurs that some senior players are limiting their conversations with the coach and restricting their chatter with the chief selector to formal pleasantries.

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What should be the main focus of the Indian cricket team in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup?

The head coach asserted during one of his many media appearances since winning the T20 World Cup that planning for the ODI World Cup will begin some time during the IPL but before the blueprint is finalised, dialogue needs to happen. Not just dialogue but clear communication stating whether Virat and Rohit fit into the World Cup plans.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (Pic credit: BCCI)

Although it’s quite funny that a conversation of this nature, involving two white ball giants, is even required, the indirect messaging via press conferences and the growing chatter on social media timelines are doing everything but making the dressing room ideal for an event of that proportion. If other one-format cricketers, not on the right side of 30, can look two years ahead; if a chief selector can ask for a shot at unfinished business; and if a head coach can express a desire to continue a year after his official tenure ends, the least Virat and Rohit can expect is clear dialogue. If the men who matter still feel they can have a real shot without the two, and keep the dressing room at its secure best, they must be reading the room with supernatural powers.

Inside the IIT-Bombay campus in Powai where he once spent four years, alumnus Rajan Verma is reading a book that does not belong to him. Titled ‘Zero To One’, it was kept in the nearby ‘reading corner’ of the campus post office—a mini library stacked with bestsellers. As he waits for a friend to post a parcel, Verma, now a techie with a leading software firm, scans the room for nostalgia and finds none. A far cry from the cobwebbed cables and creaking cupboards of every post office he’s known, many things about the space are pleasantly unrecognisable.The steel perforated seat he’s sitting on, for instance, has replaced an uninviting wooden bench. Diagonally opposite, the former Aadhaar enrolment cabin now hosts a guitar, beanbags and a slender coffee machine. “Delivery flex”, reads a nearby sign. Another proclaims: “A red letter box is better than red flags”. The wall behind him—flaky and chipped in his student days—carries a freshly painted thought bubble: “Retro roots revamped in Gen Z vibes”. If the puns, tripods and ringlights don’t give it away, a nook inviting visitors to get their photos printed on 12 personalised stamps for Rs 300 seals it. The IIT-B post office—the only ‘Gen Z post office’ in Maharashtra—is part of a nationwide initiative by India Post to reimagine the humble post office for a younger audience. Now called NGen—short for Next Generation— the programme began as ‘Gen Z’ before being renamed to broaden its reach. “We didn’t want to portray it as targeting just one generation,” says an India Post official. “The idea is to connect to the new generation, the next generation—and even those after that.” The push, he says, came directly from Jyotiraditya Scindia, minister of communications, who wanted to shift the perception of postal services. “The general mindset is still ‘purana hai’. Over the years, the youth connect has been lost somewhere. So, the idea was to rebuild it.” Educational campuses proved the most natural starting point. Many large institutes—from IITs to IIMs—already had post offices serving students and faculty. “Students use them for sending parcels or documents, especially when they graduate and send things back home. We wanted to make it a place where students could come, relate to the space and spend time,” says another official. The first to be transformed was the IIT-Delhi campus post office, which was redesigned by students of its fine arts department, whose ideas have shaped the graffiti, interior themes and promotional material. Free Wi-Fi access, dedicated student service counters, parcel packing services and discounted Speed Post document services now make the facility more contemporary and accessible. The results were immediate: when Scindia visited, nearly 80% of the hundred-odd students in the room had already been to their campus post office. Since last Nov, 46 such spaces have opened across the country, with a target of 100 by the end of the financial year. The redesigned post offices feature free WiFi, coffee counters, board games and magazines—something closer to a campus common room than a govt counter. “This is mainly an outreach exercise. The idea is that students come, read books, hang out with friends—and also use the services,” says an official. At Bengaluru’s Acharya Institute of Technology, where students redesigned the campus post office wall by wall, Keerthi Shri, who is in the second semester, says, “Earlier the post office looked very plain. Now, students say it feels like coming to a ‘hi-fi office’.” Kerala leads the way, with three NGen post offices already running. “The number of account openings has gone up since the makeover,” says Rahul IPoS, senior sub-postmaster, Trivandrum north division, who oversees the NGen post office at Government Engineering College. The redesigns have also quietly revived older habits. At IIM-Gandhinagar, sub-postmaster Kruti Mehta has watched the number of students sending parcels home rise steadily since the makeover. “Students prefer post office for sending books and clothes—it’s cheaper, and flights allow only 15kg,” she says. In Bengaluru, students have started writing postcards to their families again. Keerthi has opened a postal savings account. “I’ve deposited Rs 2,000,” she says, happy to join her mother and sister as a post office account holder. In Powai, postwoman Ashwini Shinde—who has been working there for 16 years—says she likes to return to a colourful office. Does she use the guitar room? “I can’t play,” she says. Meanwhile, sub-postmaster Kavita Tawde opens the complaints and suggestions register that is now buzzing with compliments. One entry stands out—from Joginder Singh, who introduces himself as “a resident of the IIT market since 1968”: “Today, it was great to see my post office clean and bright. I wish to see it always this way.”