CAU Officials Interrogated By Uttarakhand Police Over Extortion

By Bibhu Ray

(The Quiver): Top officials of the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) have been alleged of extortion and death threats by a parent of a former India U19 player. CAU secretary Mahim Verma, Uttarakhand head coach Manish Jha and spokesperson Sanjay Ghusain were questioned by Uttarakhand police after an FIR was registered against them.
The FIR has been lodged at the Vasant Vihar police station in Dehradun and it has been filed under IPC (Indian Penal code) sections for criminal conspiracy (120B), voluntarily causing hurt (323), extortion(384), international insult (504) and criminal intimidation (506).
Virendra Sethi filed a complaint and alleges that his son Aryan Sethi was issued death threats from coach Jha, the team manager Navneet Mishra and video analyst Piyush Raghuvanshi during the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22 last year.
“For the past three days, we have called Mahim Verma, Manish Jha and Sanjay Gusain separately. We have interrogated them. We have taken their statements. If needed, it will be done again,” Janmejaya Khanduri, SSP Dehradun said.
The Uttarakhand players were paid low wages and denied food facilities during matches.
According to reports, the CAU’s audit report of March 31,2020,has listed Rs 1,74,07,346 for food and catering and Rs 49,58,750 for daily allowances. This includes Rs 35 lakh for bananas and Rs 22 lakh for water bottles.
On the other side, Uttarakhand players have alleged that the association hasn’t paid them the minimum fare of INR 1,500 instead they received Rs 100 rupees per match and were denied food from CAU during matches.
The players were asked to manage their own travel after they lost to Mumbai in the Ranji trophy quarter-final by 725 runs- the biggest win in first class matches with a heavy margin. Uttarakhand batter Robin Bist said.
“We returned to the team hotel and, after our recovery session in the pool, went for lunch. The hotel staff said they were told not to serve us food. When we called the team manager, he replied: ‘Order something from Swiggy or Zomato or stay hungry. If you don’t eat for a day, you won’t die,’ ” said Bist, who played 106 first-class matches and 61 List A games.
“Our official DA (daily allowance) is Rs 1,500, we are getting Rs 100 per day. We got Rs 2,700 for 27 days; Bist added.
The vice-president of their own association, Sanjay Rawat, and joint secretary, Avnish Verma, have both filed charges against CAU president Jot Singh and secretary Mahim Verma for alleged financial irregularities.