Kanpur (UP), Sep 28: Bangladeshi cricket fan Rabi-ul-Islam, also popularly called Tiger Robi, has been "deported" to his country, sources said on Saturday, a day after he stoked a controversy by claiming he was assaulted inside the stadium here during the India-Bangladesh test match and later retracting his allegation.
However, Additional DCP (Local Intelligence Unit) Rajesh Kumar Srivastava said Robi, who was suffering from metastatic cancer, had come to India on a medical visa and authorities had facilitated his travel back home as per his wish.
Robi was taken to Chakeri airport escorted by police personnel and they remained there till his flight took off for Delhi on Saturday. The Bangladeshi national took a flight for Dhaka from Delhi airport in the afternoon and he was not allowed to go outside the airport premises, the official said.
ADCP Srivastava told PTI that Robi had come to India on September 18 after getting a visa on medical grounds to undergo treatment at a hospital in Howrah but instead visited Chennai to support the Bangladesh team who played their first test and later left for Kanpur.
Robi reached Green Park stadium on Friday morning and walked to the C-Balcony enclosure and was seen waving flags during the match which may have resulted in exhaustion and he was taken ill, police officials said.
"He was found gasping for breath when he met a constable. He became unconscious before we could speak to him," Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Harish Chander told PTI.
He was taken to Regency Hospital from where he was discharged on Friday late evening, the ACP added.
Earlier, during a brief interaction with the media on Friday, Robi indicated that he had been punched in his abdomen during an altercation. However, in a statement issued from his hospital bed later, he said he merely felt unwell and was given the requisite assistance by the local police.
"I fell ill and the police brought me to the hospital. Now I am feeling much better," he stated in a short video clip.
According to officials, Robi had reached Kanpur on Thursday night and he had to sleep on the street along with labourers.
He stayed at a hotel in Kanpur on Friday night and was taken to Chakeri airport on Saturday morning, they said.
Abhishek Pandey, ACP (Kalyanpur), said Robi received immediate medical care and insisted that he had not been assaulted as alleged in early reports.
Sources said it is not clear how he travelled for the matches despite having a medical visa and has been deported.
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Mandya: Curtains came down the 87th All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in the city on Saturday night, with the Kannada Sahitya Parishad declaring that the next Kannada literature festival will be organized in Ballari district in 2025.
In a meeting held at a private hospital here on Sunday night, representatives of the Kannada Sahitya Parishads of all districts of the state came to a unanimous decision that Ballari would be the venue for the 88th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, giving the border district the privilege of hosting a Kannada literature festival after 66 years.
Some of the representatives suggested Chikkamagaluru and New Delhi too while the matter of venue for the next Sammelana was raised, but the members finalized on Ballari as the district that would host the next literature festival.
The Kannada Sahitya Sammelana was organized in Ballari in the pre-Independence era in the years 1926 and 1938. After Independence, the festival was organized at the Municipal College grounds in the city and presided over by Jnanpith Award-winning Kannada writer VK Gokak.