On Thursday (2nd November), Kolkata Police issued a summons to Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Snehashis Ganguly in an investigation pertaining to the black marketing of ICC World Cup match tickets. Snehashis Ganguly is the brother of former Indian captain and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly. The CAB president was reportedly asked to appear for questioning within 24 hours.
CAB officials, however, failed to appear at the police station as required. CAB wrote an email to the police and denied responsibility for the ticket distribution procedure and any dealings with BookMyShow, claiming that these matters were under the authority of the BCCI. Subsequently, the police sent a second notice to CAB, requiring their physical attendance for questioning.
Meanwhile, Kolkata Police has started interrogations of staff from BookMyShow, the ICC’s official ticketing partner for the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Representatives from BookMyShow were also served with a notice on Thursday. The Kolkata police have leveled seven charges and detained 16 people in connection with the illegal sale of World Cup match tickets. The police, who recovered 94 tickets, stated that tickets costing Rs 900 were being sold on the illicit market for Rs 8,000. The BookMyShow representatives were questioned by authorities in this regard on Friday.
Following a complaint from cricket fans, a case was filed on Wednesday accusing BookMyShow and officials from the CAB and BCCI of ticket black marketing.
Meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly has said that demands for the tickets is extremely high and beyond control. “It happens everywhere, the demand for tickets is so high. Nobody has control over it, only the Police can stop this,” Ganguly.
When asked about CAB’s name coming up in the controversy, Ganguly said “It is unfortunate. CAB doesn’t sell tickets. They don’t have any box office.”
Since Wednesday, the police have been undertaking raids in various regions and keeping vigilant tabs on social media to track down shady dealings ahead of the match between India and South Africa at Eden Gardens on Sunday, November 5.
The police recently arrested three persons, namely, Subhradip Bhattacharya, Suman Sarder, and Sandipan Laha after receiving a complaint from a cricket fan for allegedly selling India-South Africa match tickets valued at Rs 900 for Rs 8,000. The accused were found with a total of 17 tickets. A case was filed against the accused and officials of the CAB and BookMyShow at the Netaji Nagar police station under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the West Bengal Black Marketing Act.
