Kolkata police stations' new job: distribute tickets for KKR celebrations

Kolkata is all set to accord a “royal felicitation” to IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday at the Eden Gardens, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee altering an important tour schedule to attend the occasion in the company of team owner and Bollywood ‘baadshah’ Shah Rukh Khan and a host of Bengal film celebrities.

And as if that wasn’t enough, an NDTV report said that West Bengal sports minister Madan Mitra has asked police officials to distribute 36,000 tickets for the massive celebration and parade planned at Eden Gardens.

Mitra had announced earlier that unused tickets of the 14 May match between KKR and Mumbai Indians would be used as passes to witness SRK and his team’s victory lap. The match was shifted to Cuttack because of poll counting and it’s tickets will now be distributed among 69 police stations for people to get their hands on.

The police changed their stance a number of times as people queued up outside the stations — first saying that they would be available from 8 PM onwards, then saying that they would be available only at 9 PM and later issuing a notice that only one ticket per person will be given away on a first-come first-served basis.

“As if providing adequate security at Eden Gardens was not enough, now we have to act as distributors. Is this policing?” a senior officer was quoted as saying in the report.

Click here to read the full NDTV report.