Pro Counter-Strike player Nikhil “Forsaken” Kumawat, a member of OpTic India, was found cheating mid-match against Team Revolution during the eXTREMESLAND Zowie Asia 2018 Finals. The match was stopped by officials who stepped in after they had noticed suspicious programs running on his PC during the match. They had asked to see his computer and he tried to prevent them from inspecting further by denying them access to it. Forsaken then physically intervened and attempted to delete the files the official was attempting to view. The admins had decided that through all of the events that had occurred, that there was enough evidence to justify disqualifying and dismissing OpTic India.

https://twitter.com/CSGO2ASIA/status/1053258450866589698

Forsaken was promptly sent home as quickly as possible, on the first flight available in fact. OpTic Gaming has disbanded the entirety of OpTic India due to this incident, even though according to Jesal Parekh, OpTic Gaming’s international development director said “the other four players had no knowledge of this and would never have agreed to even play if there was even the slightest hint of it.” While Forsaken has been banned from the Asian Pro League, the players who were part of the now defunct OpTic India will still remain members of the Pro Division.

This isn’t the first time Forsaken has gotten in trouble with cheating, but it certainly is the one with the most fallout. His account had been VAC banned during 2017, which banned him and his team from ESL events. While he eventually appealed this ban by claiming he wasn’t using that account at the time, he still faced a half year ban for sharing his account, which is against Valve’s terms and conditions. He has been known to cheat fairly often, to the point where there have been many, many times he has been documented doing so.

You can read the official statement by OpTic India on the situation here.