Cricket in a little town of Uttar Pradesh, Jarara, turned ugly when the sister of an umpire, who gave a contentious decision in a local league match was poisoned to death. The town located just 20 kms away from Aligarh has seen a rise in popularity of cricket and consequently staged a cricket tournament of its own called the Jarara Premier League. But little did people know that the league would even cost the life of a 15-year-old girl who had nothing to do with the league.
According to a Times of India report, In a match played at 28th of May between Jarara and Bariki, matters heated up when a local namely Raj Kumar acting as an umpire in the match, gave a no ball decision. The match was hanging in the balance and Kumar’s decision was crucial. The decision was thus contested by one of the players Sandeep Pal who went up to him and asked him to change it. When Raj Kumar refused to change his decision, he was threatened of dire consequences by Pal, but Kumar stood his ground and didn’t pay attention to Pal’s threats.
On the following day, Pal met Raj Kumar’s sister, Pooja who was accompanied by three of her friends. Pal offered the girl and her friends cold drinks which, further investigations have revealed, contained insecticide. Since Pal was no stranger to the girls, they didn’t think twice before accepting the poison-laced cold drinks. It wasn’t long before Raj Kumar’s sister Pooja collapsed and died. Pooja’s three other friends were also taken to hospital from where they were shifted to another hospital in Aligarh.
The little dusty town is shocked and is yet to come to grips with the shameful action of one of their own. The Pradhan of Jarara, Rattan Pal Rawal was quoted as saying “I always knew it was a bad idea to hold such a cricket tournament here. My fears have come true. We resisted the formation of this JPL from the very beginning because these people don’t know what sportsmanship is. They are touchy and violent. See what has happened in the first season itself. “Give them a bat and they will swing it on each other’s face.”
Knowing the history of violence of the town, the idea of such a league was resisted initially. Bobby Khan, president of the JPL Khair Cricket Committee, revealed, "This (JPL) was formed after much resistance. We had met the zila panchayat members, the pradhan and other elders before formally inaugurating it this month. According to reports, Raj Kumar has refused to officiate in any further matches while prime accused Sandeep Pal is on the run.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download Cric Rocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more!
