T20 Cricket is a short format of cricket which has grabbed crores of people to watch the game all over the world. We had seen many T20 tournaments like Indian Premier League, Big Bash, Carribean Premier League, Ram Slam, Pakistan Super League and much more. In the same way, People in a dusty town Jarara, 20 km from Aligarh have started Jarara Premier League (JPL) on May 14, 2016.
The tournament was scheduled from May 14 to May 30. The price money for the winning team was declared was Rs. 5,100. Everything went well until the match on May 28. In the match between Jarara and Bariki, the umpire Raj Kumar called a ‘No Ball’ at a crucial moment. Sandeep pal, one of the players went to the Umpire and asked him to change the verdict.
Hence, Kumar didn’t change his decision. Sandeep Pal said ‘the umpire would pay dearly for the mistake and that he would lose one of his family members.’ In the badlands of west UP, violence during sporting events is normal and threats of murder fly thick and fast. Though the umpire brushed off the threat, he didn’t think the guys would really do something to his family.
On May 29, Sandeep Pal stopped Kumar’s 15-year-old sister Pooja and three of her friends and offered them cold drinks laced with poison. The girls knew Sandeep and didn’t suspect anything and took the drink. Soon Pooja collapsed and the three others were sent to the hospital.
Rattan Pal Rawal, the Pradhan of Jarara, felt sorrow and told, “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.”
While one of them has died, the three others have been referred from the local hospital to a bigger one in Aligarh. From the site of the incident, we found another bottle that had a potent insecticide in it. We will get to the bottom of this in a few days. Pal has been declared an absconder by the police.