Saggy’s Potential Return to BGMI Esports Leaves Indian Esports Community Concerned

Enigma Gaming’s former BGMI (Battlegrounds Mobile India) player Sagar “Saggy” Kumar was removed from the organization after he admitted to cheating last year. He was called out by notable members of the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) community including Saumya "Saumraj" Raj of Skylightz Gaming and TSM’s Siddhant “Sid” Joshi. He issued an apology and made his social media accounts private back then but it looks like the player is making a return to the game competitively and it has raised some eyebrows.

Why Saggy was banned from BGMI esports

After Saggy admitted to cheating, Enigma Gaming CEO Aryaman Wasan revealed that the player was unable to fulfill obligations to the team and had to be dropped. Before disabling his social media accounts he said, “This has nothing to do with the team or the organization. I have had college issues since the beginning. The team didn’t know anything and there is no point hating them.” He had also issued an apology to Sid.

It is important to note that Enigma Gaming had systems in place to avoid cheating. Players were required to stream their gameplay and compete in events at the boot camp so the organization could detect any form of foul play if present. Saggy failed to attend the boot camp and was let go by the organization.

Recently it was discovered that the player has returned to competitive BGMI and is participating in the Battlegrounds Mobile India Masters Series (BGMS) S2 qualifiers that are being hosted by NODWIN Gaming. Saggy posted an Instagram story talking about how he has been grinding for over a year and he addressed hacking accusations by stating that he is competing on NODWIN Gaming’s verified devices and there is gameplay footage available in case anyone doubts his legitimacy.

Saggy claims that he was given a 12-month ban from BGMI and the ban period has passed, which makes him eligible to compete. He wrote on Instagram, “All my POVs have been checked and so have my devices. I hope you take it in a good way and let our gameplay decide the rest.”

BGMI community members are unhappy with Saggy’s return

TSM India General Manager Nizhum “Armin” Karmakar said, “There should be no second chances for people who deliberately destroy the sanctity of competition. People work really hard to be that one in a million and there are millions who want to be the next one. This is very wrong, I hope this is not allowed.” 

GodLike Esports’s Abhijeet Harishchandra "GHATAK" Andhare also shared the same opinion and said that people deserve second chances but Saggy hurt the esports community and strict action is needed. 

Global Esports CEO Rushindra Sinha said that he too believes in second chances but Saggy intentionally hurt the esports community by cheating/hacking willingly and gave himself an unfair advantage while robbing others of an opportunity to compete. “This isn’t about how hard he’s worked in the last 18 months but the fact that he willingly chose to compromise the competitive integrity of the sport for his own personal fame and gain.”

Countless others have also spoken out against Saggy being allowed to compete. NODWIN Gaming is yet to issue a response and we will update the story in case the tournament oranizer addresses the ongoing controversy surrounding Saggy.