Two Bengaluru constables suspended over blackmarket sale of IPL tickets, touts held
Bengaluru: Two constables have been suspended over the sale of Indian Premier League (IPL) tickets in the black market. The cops under the scanner are constable Venkatagiri Gowda, attached to the control room in the Traffic Management Centre (TMC), and Ravichandra K of the Halasur traffic police station.
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Two touts, Shankar, 19, a resident of Gangadhar Layout in Vijayanagar, and Suresh, 30, of Sampangiramanagar, who were selling the tickets provided by the two constables, were arrested by Govindarajanagar police.
Police inspector Subramani received a tip-off about a youth selling IPL tickets near Nachiketha Park playground in Vijayanagar for the May 17 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
PSI Mahesh Byakud and his team found Shankar trying to sell the tickets and a constable was sent as a decoy to purchase them. Shankar told him he had Rs 1,200 tickets which he would sell for Rs 5,000. As Shankar took out a bundle of tickets, the police team detained him. As many as 41 tickets were found on him and police also seized an iPhone and Rs 20,200 from him.
When quizzed, Shankar told police that he had known Venkatagiri, Ravichandra and tout Suresh for a year and that they provided him with the tickets.
He would sell them for higher prices and receive a commission.
Shankar was told to call Suresh, who was allegedly selling tickets at another place. Suresh who reached the spot with 11 tickets was also detained. Both confessed that Venkatagiri and Ravichandra provided them with the tickets.
A senior officer said, "We have written a letter to the firm in charge of selling tickets. We have served notice to both the constables to appear before the investigating officer to find out the source of the tickets."
They went incommunicado while the touts were released on bail.
Joint Commissioner of Police (traffic) MN Anucheth who placed the constables under suspension, ordered a departmental inquiry.
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So the argument that they did not have time to prepare doesn't hold water. The police opposed the victory parade and as per their wish, it did not happen. They inexplicably failed to anticipate the large crowds that gathered and make adequate security deployment for the same,' he argued. Responding to BJP's demands for CM Siddaramaiah's resignation over the tragedy, IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge reminded the BJP that the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government had been criticised by the judiciary for its failure to compensate the victims of the stampede during the Kumbh Mela, and yet, none had resigned. A bitter aftertaste The stampede that killed 11 RCB fans has left a bitter aftertaste for fans whose joy knew no bounds at the team's victory after a long wait of 17 years. Within 24 hours, these fans went from celebrating the victory to mourning the tragic loss of their fellow fans. They say that the situation could have been handled better by all the stakeholders, and even said that if the event was delayed by a day or two, they would not have minded. 'I was a child when I started supporting RCB and today I am a working professional. For people of my generation, the dream of RCB clinching the league title grew with us. To see people from the same age group lose their lives while celebrating the team made me profoundly sad. The State machinery, the Karnataka State Cricket Association and the RCB management owed more to the fans,' said Sripriya Vasu, a fan of the team from Bengaluru.
