An amount of Rs 14 lakh was raised by auctioning playing gear contributed by India's sporting heroes to support cancer patient Bapi Majhi and the family of deceased Alip Chakraborty -- both diehard football fans.
Majhi is a staunch Mohun Bagan supporter whereas Chakraborty was an East Bengal follower. The proceeds of the auction will be divided equally among the families of the two which are facing economic hardship.
Altogether 31 items contributed by different sports personalities including Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly and Leander Paes went under the hammer at a city hotel on Saturday night.
India's limited overs captain Dhoni donated his wicket-keeping gloves and pads for the auction. The first item was picked up for Rs 1 lakh while his pads were bought for Rs 50,000.
The event, organised by xtratime.in, saw a heavy round of bidding for Paes's racquets and Ganguly's "All Star" Jersey.
The racquets "a set of two" were bagged by Bengal cricket captain Manoj Tiwary who paid a hefty Rs 1.50 lakh for it.
Ganguly's T-shirt was taken away by Indian Football Association secretary Utpal Ganguly who bid the highest at Rs 1.25 lakh.
Another souvenir which fetched a high price was a football signed by Brazilian soccer legend Pele.
The amount raised from the auction was handed to Majhi for his treatment as well as to Chakraborty's family, who lost the battle with cancer a week ago.
Chakraborty is survived by his wife and son. He was diagnosed with tongue cancer in November last year.
Majhi was diagnosed with stomach cancer a few months back and is presently undergoing treatment.
He has undergone a series of successful chemotherapy treatments but will have to undergo more rounds of chemotherapy.
There were a lot of other items up for auction donated by the likes of Manish Pandey, Shakib al Hasan and Gautam Gambhir. All were sold.
--IANS
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