Six persons were arrested hours before the India-Sri Lanka ODI started at the Eden Gardens on Thursday afternoon for allegedly selling match tickets at a premium.
Police said a raid was conducted around the Eden Gardens and the six were caught at various locations outside the stadium.
The accused were identified as Noory Mondal, Baby Begam, Shamik Kundu, Brijmohan Chirimar, Raju Paswan and Rajib Mondal. They were booked under the Kolkata police act.
“They were caught selling tickets at a higher rate. This is illegal. We have seized 34 match tickets,” said an officer at Lalbazar.
The police said 11 others had been detained for disorderly conduct outside the match venue.
Additional police personnel were deployed outside the stadium, including officers in plain clothes, to keep an eye on illegal activities.
“It was obvious that there would be demand for tickets for this match as this was the first one-day international at Eden post-Covid,” said a senior police officer.
HOMAGE
Over 6,000 students and teachers from 47 schools gathered at Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, to celebrate the 161st birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The programme began with vedic chanting. Swami Sarvalokananda, secretary of the ashrama, stressed the importance of education in shaping up an individual based on Swami Vivekananda’s ideals.
Swami Vivekananda’s ancestral house in north Kolkata was decorated with flowers and garlands. Students from various schools poured in to pay their tributes before joining a procession, which was flagged off by monks and minister Sashi Panja. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Mamata Banerjee paid their homage to Swami Vivekananda during the day.
“I pay my humble homage to the visionary spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary. His teachings have inspired generations to walk on the path of service and devotion to mankind. May the light shown by him guide us all to spiritual salvation,” Mamata tweeted.
Monks at Belur Math said Swami Vivekananda’s 161st birth anniversary will be celebrated on January 14 according to the almanac. The celebration will begin with mangalarati at Swamiji’s temple at 4.45am.
GUIDING LIGHT
St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, celebrated Swami Vivekananda’s 161st birth anniversary on Thursday by underlining the relevance of his teachings to today’s youth. The principal of the college, Father Dominic Savio, highlighted the values preached by Swami Vivekananda, especially on education, youth and interfaith relations.
“It is good to remember Swamiji’s mantra which charged the youth and students of his time and continues to do so in our time. Until you can trust yourself, you cannot trust Allah or God. If we are not able to see God in other humans and ourselves, then where can we go to find divinity?” he said. “Swamiji’s teachings motivated everyone, revived our ancient heritage and Hinduism, and raised inter-faith awareness.... He became the guiding light of the youth of India. He focused on the youth to uplift the country and society. He wanted these to happen through education and social service,” Father Savio said. “So he had a very strong, revolutionary but practical, value-based views on education that aimed at the overall development of a person.” Hundreds of students were among those who paid tributes to the monk