Chaos outside Eden as fans gather for tickets

Kolkata: Angry cricket fans gathered outside Eden Gardens on Thursday seeking offline tickets to India vs. South Africa ICC World Cup match which is going to be held on November 5.

An FIR was lodged at Maidan Police Station alleging ‘mishandling’ of match tickets.

The complaint was filed at Maidan Police Station on Wednesday by a cricket enthusiast wherein he alleged that a large chunk of the tickets meant for public use have been made available to the black-marketers by officials for the purpose of their personal gains.

Subsequently, Maidan Police Station issued a notice to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) seeking the appearance of a CAB official on Thursday. A notice was also served to online portal Bookmyshow seeking the appearance of their representative at Maidan Police Station.

On Thursday, fans alleged that tickets to the upcoming match were sold out online in a matter of seconds. Hence, they came to Eden Gardens for offline tickets but the fans claimed that they were told that offline tickets were not being sold and they were asked to take up the matter with CAB. Meanwhile, there were CAB life members protesting outside the Eden Gardens gate and claimed that they, too, did not receive their tickets. “We have filed a FIR at Maidan police station against CAB,” a life member said.

In another case, Shakespeare Sarani Police Station arrested three people on Tuesday for allegedly betting during the World Cup match at Eden.

Amongst the arrested, two are residents of Delhi and one is from Gwalior. The police have seized their mobile phones, laptops and other betting-related objects. They were produced at Bankshall

Court on Wednesday and remanded to police custody till November 6.