2 days ago
An ‘honourable' man in the gentleman's game
In what can be described as a better late than never move, Telangana police on Wednesday arrested the incumbent President of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) A Jagan Mohan Rao and four of his accomplices, doubling up as 'respectable' office-bearers, including treasurer C J Srinivas Rao and CEO Suneel Kante, on a slew of charges, such as forgery, coercion, graft, misappropriation of funds running into crores and blatant abuse of power. Alas, the execution of the cleansing operation has been overly delayed as calls for his head have been gathering momentum for years together. What cannot miss the eye of those closely following the embezzlement saga and the dictatorial rule is that the money swindled by Rao and his henchmen goes way above the Rs 2.3 crore that is being projected. If one goes by the manner bills have been inflated for procuring material like ACs, during the conduct of the Hyderabad leg of Indian Premier League (IPL) and other championships, shows that it has shelled down amounts that would put to shame the spendings on a big fat wedding.
Findings by vigilance and enforcement investigators, after the Telangana Crime Investigation Department (CID) filed a case under a multitude of Sections expose the criminal traits of the shady man, who did nothing except use the Association as a money-spinner. A look at the bills that have been raised and settled reveals the extent of Team Rao's criminality-Rs 11.85 lakh (new ACs). Rs 6.85 lakh (electric material), catering (Rs 31.07 lakh) and apparel (Rs 56.84 lakh) ostensibly for meeting the requirements of the domestic season, and buying 1,340 cricket balls for a whopping Rs 1.03 crore.
HCA has been in the news for all the wrong reasons since the time Rao assumed office, under dubious circumstances using forged documents to lend credibility to a club that was technically non-existent. The HCA-controlled RGICS has been the headquarters of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Not ironically, it was the SRH that came up with damning charges against the HCA, including harassment, intimidation and using pressure tactics. SRH, in fact, threatened to relocate its base from Hyderabad unable to bear the ill-treatment by the HCA 'gang', which also demanded more than the earmarked 3, 900 complimentary passes for each match played at RGICS. This case took-off after a complaint was lodged by Dharam Gurava Reddy, general secretary of Telangana Cricket Association (TCA) on June 9.
Reddy charged that Rao, a 'master manipulator' who was never associated with the HCA or the game, contested its elections using fake documents and a forged cricket club membership to qualify for the 2023 elections. His candidature gained 'credibility' when it was backed by the equally notorious Gowlipura Cricket Club president G Kavita and her husband Rajender Yadav, its general secretary, who have since been arrested.
A sad fallout has been that Hyderabad, which was once revered for churning out exceptionally gifted cricketers, is in doldrums, the domestic season seems like a ritual that has to be complied with and there has been no promotion at the district level. The dubious machinations of Rao have been so notoriously high that everyone associated with the sport in the state is hoping that this episode will mark
Rao's Waterloo. Mark Antony's 'honourable man' suits men of Rao's ilk, who, as an official pointed out, out-surpass Brutus in terms of treachery and hanging on to power by hook or crook.
