Punjab Assembly speaker undergoes dope test
Chandigarh, July 6: A day after AAP legislator in Punjab Aman Arora underwent a dope test, Punjab Assembly speaker Rana K.P. Singh also opted for it on Friday.
He volunteered and took the test at the Mohali Civil Hospital, around 10 km from here.
"It is very disheartening that Punjab, the land of Gurus and legendary warriors, is facing the menace of drug abuse," the speaker said after undergoing the dope test.
Appealing to all political parties to join hands with the state government in its fight against drugs, he said there was an urgent need to build an apolitical mass movement against drugs.
"It is a complex problem. Neither did it crop up in days nor will it be cured immediately," he added.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Aman Arora later challenged Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to undergo the dope test.
Accepting the challenge, the Chief Minister on Thursday said he was willing to undergo a dope test.
Opposition leaders are demanding that the Chief Minister should ask his Cabinet members and Congress MLAs to take the test.
However, Amarinder Singh said that he would "leave it to the conscience of other elected representatives to take a decision on the same."
The Chief Minister had earlier ordered mandatory dope test for all state employees, including police during recruitment as well as during their service.
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Prime organiser of Messi event in Kolkata arrested over ‘mismanagement’ after stadium chaos
Kolkata (PTI): The police on Saturday arrested Satadru Datta, the prime organiser of the Lionel Messi football event at Salt Lake Stadium here, following widespread chaos at the venue, which prompted the Argentine World Cup-winning captain to leave the field early.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the stadium unrest, Datta was held by the Bidhannagar Police for “mismanagement” of the event from the Kolkata airport, where he had gone to see off Messi and his entourage on their way to Hyderabad.
"We are looking into whether there was any mismanagement from the organiser's side, which led to the chaos at the stadium. He has been detained, and the police have now brought the situation under control," West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar said at a press conference.
A senior police officer later confirmed that Dutta has been arrested. Till reports last received, the police were interrogating him and his manager inside one of the departure lounges of the airport.
The organiser has given in writing that he will refund the prices of tickets he sold to the disappointed spectators, Kumar said.
What was supposed to be a marquee football spectacle turned into widespread violence and disorder at the stadium after Messi’s brief and tightly ring-fenced appearance, his first at the venue since 2011, left large sections of the crowd frustrated, as they failed to catch a glimpse of their superstar despite having travelled from far and wide, paying hefty sums for tickets.
Police said they were also investigating how organisers allowed sale of bottled waters and beverages inside the stadium premises, which are banned items during such events.
Thousands of water bottles were used as missiles and lobbed inside the pitch by angry spectators, who also uprooted bucket seats from the gallery and used them as ammunition inside the field against the defending police and security personnel.
Spectators alleged that water bottles were being sold at a massive premium inside the stadium despite police disallowing such items from outside at the entry gates.
Police agreed there was an underlying tension in the galleries on account of Messi not showing his footballing skills on the field, which only got aggravated after a bunch of VIPs, including State Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and unidentified people, blocked the football icon’s view during the limited time he spent on the ground.
“We are on the job, and will ensure that whoever is responsible for what happened today at Salt Lake Stadium will be punished, and action will be taken against the authorities concerned,” said Jawed Shamim, ADG, Law and Order.
