Cables stolen at Eden Gardens

Three hundred meters of power cable between the C and D blocks connected to the electronic scoreboard and hoardings on the boundary line were found missing, the police said.

Another 200 metres of BSNL cable between B and C blocks and the generator connection cable under gallery C were also stolen, said CAB president Prasun Mukherjee.

8220;I am shocked. Somebody having good knowledge of the ground has done it. Otherwise how could the culprit avoid the CAB staff and policemen who are on duty round-the-clock?8221; he asked.

8220;It clearly shows that soem people are trying to jeopardise the matches,8221; he said.

CAB treasurer Tushar Sarkar, however, assured that the April 29 match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders would not be affected as the cables have been replaced.

8220;There will be no problem in the functioning of the light tower,8221; he said.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Goutam Mohan Chakraborty inspected the Eden Gardens facilities in the evening, and said he was satisfied with the overall arrangements.

On the floodlight arrangements, he said, 8220;The problems that surfaced in the last match have been rectified. CESC has taken necessary steps. I am confident uninterrupted power can be supplied.8221;

Expressing surprise at the theft despite the presence of security personnel, Chakraborty said the detective department of the city police would be asked to investigate the matter.

He, however, charged the organisers with trying to create an artificial demand for tickets.

8220;We heard and saw people were not getting tickets from the counter. Then we took up the matter with the organisers.

They have been asked to brief us daily on the ticket sales,8221; he said.

The police would be in charge of ticket sales in the remaining five IPL matches.

The city police chief said, apart from Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, industrialist and Mumbai Indians owner Mukesh Ambani and filmstar Hrithik Roshan would be in the gallery on Tuesday.

Asked whether the arrangements were foolproof, the CAB chief said, 8220;How can I say that? I am worried. Some mischief makers are there. But we have to make proper arrangements. And we are working in that direction.8221;

Eden Gardens hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons on April 20, when the match between the Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers was halted for 31 minutes due to the floodlights in two of the four towers going out.

The CAB also drew flak as the two-paced strip made it difficult for batsmen to go for their shots and the game saw low scores.

The drinking water shortage faced by spectators and unclean washrooms also caused a flutter prompting the government to convene a high-level meeting to prevent recurrence of such lapses.