KOLKATA: Police and the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) are at loggerheads over the alleged mishandling of tickets for the World Cup match between India and South Africa at Eden Gardens. Not satisfied with the cricket body’s “cryptic” reply, the cops have sought more details about the ticket sales process from the CAB and online ticketing portal bookmyshow.com.
Acting on a complaint by a cricket enthusiast, the Kolkata police sent notices to the CAB and the portal authorities asking them to send their representatives.
CAB president Snehasish Ganguly is the brother of former Indian skipper and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, who is known for his close proximity with chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Ganguly’s name was also doing the rounds ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections as the BJP’s candidate after Union Minister Amit Shah had dinner at his Behala residence.
“We have received cryptic responses. But we need to know the exact nature of ticket booking. Once we get a clear idea from the CAB and bookmyshow, we will ask BCCI officials to come,” said Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal.
Kolkata police received scores of complaints about sale of tickets on the black market for the upcoming match.
“We are keeping a close watch on it. Seven persons have been arrested and 55 tickets have been seized. We are also in the process of finding who these tickets had been sold to,” said Goyal.
Sourav, who is also the former CAB president, said on Thursday that the police could have control.
“Nobody has control over tickets. Only the police can control it. Once the tickets are out of the BCCI office or the Eden Gardens, there is no control over the tickets or the people who purchase them from here. The capacity of the stadium is only 67,000 and the demand for tickets is very high,” Ganguly told reporters.
In the notice issued to the CAB and bookmyshow by Kolkata police, representatives of the two bodies have been asked to meet the investigating officer at Maidan police station.