Nagpur: This act of Nagpur cops may baffle many, especially those who thronged Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium at Jamtha to see India winning an exciting second T20 match against England on Sunday! A day after a section of media reported that VCA hosted the match without proper police permission in place, the Hingna police have registered tow separate cases againt the association’s administrative body.
Interestingly same Hingna police provided security for the match. Police sources said that these two FIRs have been filed against the administrative body for various violations and non-compliance of the collector and senior officer’s orders and notifications.
It is not clear why the police provided security at the stadium when all the permissions were not in place.
City police chief K Venkatesh said the VCA had been repeatedly informed about the measures to be adopted pertaining to security and parking arrangements but “no heed was paid to it”. “Even if the police did not grant permission, we had to make security arrangements as a large number of people were headed towards the venue,” he said.
However this was not the first time VCA operated on its whims. VCA has been on the wrong side of the law in almost every event it conducts, be it wedding parties, club get togethers and any other event that comes its way.
Venkatesh said despite no police permission, they will claim dues for the match as per the norms prescribed by a government resolution. “VCA officials kept assuring that they would comply with all the norms but did not do so,” he said.
Senior VCA officials, on the condition of anonymity, told TOI that no permission from the police was needed for conducting the matches. The cops had also given a letter on the same and then “come out with certain conditions”, they said.
They added that earlier only permission was needed for “performance license” which was later withdrawn by the state government. The officials said offences were registered only after the VCA refused cops’ demand for more tickets.
“We had all the requisite permissions from the collector’s office. We haven’t received anything from the police yet, but we will definitely challenge it in the court,” the officials said.
VCA is already facing a controversy for non-payment of dues to the tune of few crores of rupees for bundobust in earlier matches and the case is now in court. In Sunday’s case, office bearers and executive body members were booked in two separate offences.
Hingna police have registered an offence under relevant sections of Environment Protection Act, 1986 and Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 on the basis of a complaint filed by deputy sarpanch of Jamtha village. The action was initiated after the sarpanch complained of extreme noise from loudspeakers and the cheering crowd.
Hingna police have registered an offence under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for violating the order of the notification issued by the Joint CP under Bombay Police Act and also under section 336 IPC for endangering lives and personal safety of the masses. The action was also initiated in the same case for the non-compliance of the district collector’s order to take permission of the local police as per the norms.
The persons named in the FIR include VCA president Anand Jaiswal, vice-president Prashant Vaidya, secretary Bhoopindersingh Bhatti, CEO Farooque Dasturi, security in-charge Anand Deshpande and other representatives of the executive body.
Senior PI Hemant Kharabe of Hingna police station said that the matter would be probed but no arrests would be initiated immediately.
