Chief of Tripura Cricket Association along with four other people arrested for alleged assault

The Tripura Cricket Association (TCA) President and four others have been booked by the West Agartala police after an official complaint was lodged by the Vice president and Secretary of the cricket association. Timir Ghosh, the vice president and the former skipper of the Tripura state, along with the TCA secretary, Tapash Ghosh, were allegedly assaulted physically by a group of miscreants and were thrown out of their offices on Saturday, July 22. 

Ghosh claimed that goons were backed by the President of the TCA, Tapan Lodh, who allegedly came to assault the state cricket association vice president and secretary. Notably, the TCA top brass had sought an investigation into suspected financial fraud in the installation and procurement of the four towers of the LED floodlights at the Maharaja Nir Bikram stadium, by writing to the secretary of the home department. As a result, the assault event unfolded after this letter was released and the president was axed by the council. 

“We received a complaint from Tapas Ghosh and accordingly took a case. An investigation has been started and we shall serve notice to the accused persons on Sunday,” the assistant-inspector general of Tripura police, Jyotisman Das Chowdhury was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times. 

“The accused involved in this case have been booked under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” Tripura police further added. 

Ghosh demanded the ongoing scam should be investigated by skilled agency

Meanwhile, speaking on the ongoing between the members of the Tripura Cricket Association, the TCA Secretary, Tapas Ghosh revealed that the matter of the alleged corruption in the installation of the floodlights was discussed in the general body meeting. It was during this meeting that the body decided to get the matter investigated by a skilled agency rather than the state association itself, citing the administration issues within the body.

“The general body, therefore, decided to get the matter investigated by a skilled agency as to whether there is any corruption in the procurement and work for installation as discussed above. TCA cannot do this investigation on its own for the lack of skilled agency within its administrative setup at present,” the letter reads.

Meanwhile, the police have been deployed at the TCA office as a precautionary measure to stop any further tussle. On the other hand,ex-TCA President, Lodh claimed he was elected by the general body and the apex council has no right to disqualify him on the grounds of holding an office of profit. In the aftermath, the power tussle between power holders within the state board is seemingly not going to end soon.