Barabati ODI Tickets, Passes Sold In Black!

Cuttack: After almost three years, cricket fans in Odisha got to cheer for the Men in Blue, who didn’t disappoint as India clinched the series 2-1 against West Indies by winning the decider by four wickets at Barabati Stadium here on Sunday.

Besides the team, it was the black marketers who had a hay-day on the balmy Sunday morning.

According to media reports, passes of the one-dayer meant for editors and  journalists of different media houses were sold at Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000.

Two VIP passes were issued to editors of two media houses, but other 25 never received any and those passes were sold for Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000. The upper Press Box pass was sold for Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000.

People other than journalist were found seated in the press gallery.

As per the rule, signature of Cuttack DCP and OCA Authority’s hologram should be there on the passes and the tickets. But these were missing on many passes.

If this was not enough, more than one person had allegedly entered gallery-4 on a single ticket with the help of the Odisha Cricket Association employees.

The tickets were also sold in black on OLX. Cantonment Police took Media Manager Anjan Kuntia at 11 am on Sunday for interrogation after it was found that Rs 400 and Rs 600 tickets were put up for sale at a higher price of Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 respectively.