IPL Tickets dispute: HCA President Jagan Mohan Rao arrested by CID

Hyderabad: The president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), Jagan Mohan Rao, has been arrested by the Crime Investigation Department, Telangana. This comes after the Vigilance and Enforcement Wing submitted its report to the State government on the alleged irregularities in the HCA.

A preliminary report by the department has reportedly validated serious allegations levelled by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) against the HCA, recommending disciplinary action against key HCA officials for misconduct during the Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

A highly placed source told NewsMeter, "The arrests of HCA Office bearers President A JaganMohan Rao, Secretary Devaraj, Treasurer CJ Srinivas and CEO Sunil Kante, is based on two separate FIRs registered after receiving complaints, one by SunRisers Hyderabad and the the other by Telangana Cricket Association.The Telangana CID GOW lead by SP Srinivas and Additional SP Mohan Raja deployed multiple teams simultaneously and effected the arrests.The charges are for forgery, financial frauds, cheating, blackmailing and extortion, illegal withdrawal of money from HCA bank accounts , defrauding the association funds. Earlier in May/ June The Telangana Vigilance and Enforcement submittted a detailed 6 month long investigation report to the Telangana State Govt, which also lead the CID to further investigate based on the FIRs registered in early June".

Probe triggered by ticket dispute

The investigation was initiated after SRH accused HCA officials of pressuring the franchise for additional complimentary tickets beyond the agreed quota.

As per the probe’s findings, SRH was already providing 10 per cent of match tickets free of charge to HCA, in accordance with established norms. Despite this, the HCA secretary allegedly demanded an additional 10 per cent, which SRH refused.

Allegations against HCA president

The report further noted that HCA president A Jagan Mohan Rao made a similar request for an extra 10 per cent of tickets for personal use. Upon the franchise’s refusal, he allegedly retaliated by creating logistical obstacles.

Operational hurdles during IPL match

One such incident occurred during an SRH match against the Lucknow Super Giants, where HCA staff reportedly locked VIP galleries, disrupting SRH’s match-day operations and arrangements.

What is the fight between HCA and Sunrisers Hyderabad?

The row began when HCA representatives withheld access to a viewing box at the stadium on the day of the SRH-LSG match on March 27.

The SRH management reportedly sent an email to HCA in which they made it clear that they would not tolerate such behaviour by HCA. In the email, SRH general manager Srinath TB accused HCA of blackmailing for extra IPL complimentary tickets, especially by its president A Jagan Mohan Rao.

The SRH management even claimed that corporate box access was blocked on March 27 until additional free passes were given. For several years, HCA has been given 50 complimentary tickets (F12A box) as part of the 3,900 free tickets. However, this year, they claim that the box has a capacity of only 30 and requested an additional 20 complimentary tickets in another box. In this regard, the F-3 box was locked during the last match on March 27.

However, the HCA denied receiving any official complaint from SRH and called the reports a false campaign. The HCA has denied receiving any official correspondence from SRH about these claims. Jagan Mohan Rao said that no official emails were received from SRH and argued that the accusations were part of a hostile campaign to harm the association’s reputation.

How was the lid blown off?

On March 30, two leading newspapers in Telangana carried a report that SRH is reconsidering hosting IPL matches in Hyderabad after being blackmailed for extra free tickets by HCA. An email sent by SRH to HCA, which was leaked to the media, stated that the SRH management alleged that HCA, led by its president A Jagan Mohan Rao, is asking for extra complimentary passes in addition to the existing 10 per cent.

For several years, HCA was given 50 complimentary tickets (F12A box) as part of the 3,900 free tickets. However, this year, they claim that the box has a capacity of only 30 and requested an additional 20 complimentary tickets for another box. In this regard, the F-3 box was locked during the last match on March 27.

On the same day, HCA clarified that its president Jagan Mohan Rao, did not make any personal request to block 3,900 tickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad’s matches during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Uppal.

Taking a serious note of the allegations levelled against HCA, CM Revanth Reddy reportedly ordered a vigilance probe and directed Vigilance DG Kothakota Srinivas Reddy to investigate the issue thoroughly. He also made it clear that stern action should be taken if any HCA personnel were found to have pressured the SRH administration over complimentary passes.

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