OpTic Gaming International Development Director Jesal Parekh has insisted that the remaining players on OpTic India were unaware that Nikhil "⁠forsaken⁠" Kumawat had been using cheats.

Earlier on Friday, the eXTREMESLAND 2018 Asia Finals suddenly became the talk of the Counter-Strike world as OpTic India were disqualified after the admins discovered that forsaken had been using a cheating software at the tournament.

This was the biggest challenge in the history of OpTic India, a project launched by the North American organisation in May with a view to identifying and nurturing talent in a country with an evergrowing esports scene. The team have won a series of domestic tournaments, most notably ESL India Premiership 2018, and are making their first strides internationally, currently sitting in 10th place in the Asian ranking.

OpTic India distance themselves from forsaken (Photo by ESL India)

Contacted by HLTV.org, Jesal Parekh admitted that the news represents a huge blow for Indian Counter-Strike and denied that the rest of the team had any knowledge of forsaken's actions.

"The player caught with hacks has been released from the organisation, we do not tolerate anything like this," the OpTic chief told HLTV.org.

"We want to apologize to all the other teams and organizations involved. It is unfair for everyone involved. We also want to apologize to our country and to the fans who have supported us. This will be a big setback for the country, and it is really unfortunate that one selfish person is capable of causing this.

"An official statement will be released soon by the organization, but I want to make it very clear that 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."

ESL has told HLTV.org that it has not yet made a decision on OpTic India's spot at the upcoming Pro League Asia event, scheduled for October 23.