Farmers may stump the game

Former don-turned-activist Agni Sridhar has threatened that he will lead farmers and lay siege to the Chinnaswamy Stadium if Ashok Kheny doesn't step down as the owner of Karnataka Bulldozers

Farmers may stump the game

Former don-turned-activist Agni Sridhar has threatened that he will lead farmers and lay siege to the Chinnaswamy Stadium if Ashok Kheny doesn't step down as the owner of Karnataka Bulldozers

Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) is facing some obstacles even before the first ball of the first match could be bowled.

Former don-turned-activist Agni Sridhar is threatening to lead a mob of farmers to stop the tournament, accusing Ashok Kheny, owner of Karnataka Bulldozers, of grabbing farmers' land for his express highway.

Sridhar has accused Kheny of cheating farmers of their land for his BMIC project, whileu00a0 Kheny alleged that the former had demanded Rs 85 lakh to be silent on the land issue and was dragging in the CCL after his demand was turned down

He said that Kheny has no right to own a team representing the state, asu00a0 he has cheated several farmers from the state of their land.

Kheny, MD of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE), which is building the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), is at loggerheads with farmer leaders over land acquired for the highway and this fight also involves JD(S) boss H D Deve Gowda and is an old saga in the state politics.

'Step down or else'
Sridhar sent out a message to Kheny recently, urging him to return the excess land allegedly acquired for the project and appears to have found an opportunity to espouse his cause using the latest developments regarding ownership of Karnataka Bulldozers.

"Kheny is a land grabber and cheat. He cannot own a team representing the state in any form. We won't allow CCL to happen unless he steps down as the owner of the team," said Sridhar.

The CCL, involving teams of stars from the Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu film industry will play 20-20 matches, and the event will start on June 4 in the city. Sridhar said that farmers would lay siege to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the matches are scheduled to be played.

"We won't disclose our exact plans of protest at this point of time. All that I can say is that the farmers have been victimised by Kheny's land grabbing and will gather at the venue and not allow the event to happen," Sridhar said.

Old tactics
He sought to clarify that he was not against CCL and the film artistes playing cricket, but was only opposing Kheny's ownership of the team.

Giving a twist to the tale, Kheny said Sridhar was only trying extortion tactics on him and the land issue had nothing to do with CCL.

Cricket and movie fans are looking forward to catching the action between Karnataka Bulldozers and Mumbai Heroes on the opening day of the tournament at Chinnaswamy stadium on June 4

"Everyone knows about Sridhar's past and he is trying to extort. Because I did not budge, he has started all this drama," he said.

He added that Sridhar had demanded Rs 85 lakh to be silent on the land issue and was dragging in the CCL after his demands were turned down.

"After we started the BMIC project, many have tormented us and demanded money. I do not care for people like Sridhar and the CCL will not stop at any cost," he stated.

Last ditch effort
Sridhar on the other hand has taken the issue to Ambarish, president of Kannada Film Artistes' Association and brand ambassador of Karnataka Bulldozers, who had promised to resolve the crisis in a few days.

"Amabrish has assured that the farmers' grievances will be heard and justice will be delivered. We will wait, and if he fails to remove Kheny as owner of the team, we will launch the protest and stop the CCL," said Sridhar.