KK's demise: BJP MP writes to Amit Shah to seek probe by central agency, TMC hits back
Kolkata, Jun 2: The demise of Bollywood singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK, kept Bengal's political cauldron on the boil for the second consecutive day with BJP MP Saumitra Khan on Thursday urging Union Home Minister Amit Shah to order a central agency probe into his death and party colleague Dilip Ghosh stating that a "conspiracy was made" to kill him.
The allegations drew sharp reactions from the ruling TMC, which condemned the "vulture politics" of the saffron camp, further requesting it not to politicize the death.
Preliminary findings of the post-mortem conducted on KK, who breathed his last following a live concert here on May 31, have ruled out any foul play and stated that cardiac arrest was the cause of his demise, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.
The report also said that the singer had "prolonged cardiac issues."
"I have written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and demanded an impartial probe by a central agency. We don't have faith in the state police. The case needs to be looked into; the role of the police and the organisers needs to be looked into," Khan told PTI.
He also tweeted a copy of his letter to Shah on his Twitter account.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh claimed that the state government accorded him a gun salute "out of guilt".
"KK's death is a conspiracy. It is a murder. A person came to Bengal to perform and died. Amit Shah had once said if you go to Bengal, you will die. This was not a college event. It was an event organized by the Trinamool Congress Chatra Parishad," he alleged.
"The auditorium's capacity had exceeded. He (KK) was not well but was forced to sing songs one after another inside that auditorium. He wanted to leave but couldn't. Is that not a conspiracy to kill him? Is it not killing?" Ghosh maintained.
Reacting sharply to BJP's remarks, senior TMC leader and MLA Tapas Ray dubbed the allegations as "baseless".
"It seems both Khan and Ghosh are frustrated. Cornered in their own party, they now want to score some points. The post mortem has ruled out any foul play and indicated that he died due to cardiac arrest," Ray said.
Echoing him, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh urged the saffron camp to refrain from politicising the unfortunate incident.
"They are trying to politicise an unfortunate incident. He was a professional singer and fell ill after the concert. They should stop practising such vulture politics," he added.
The singer had performed at Nazrul Mancha Tuesday evening and also on Monday. He was scheduled to return to New Delhi on Wednesday.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
