Bengal: Trinamool Leader's Nephew Kicks Referee During Football Match

(MENAFN- IANS) Kolkata, Aug 16 (IANS) A video has gone viral, showing the nephew of the chairman of the Midnapore civic body disrupting an ongoing football match and kicking the referee in the stomach.

The youth accused in the matter has been identified as Raja Khan. He is the nephew of Soumen Khan, the chairman of Midnapore Municipality in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

Raja Khan was arrested by the police hours after the incident took place.

The development goes like this. A junior football match was underway at a local playground in Midnapore town, where one of the participating teams received the patronage of the accused youth.

Trouble broke out after the referee, Lakshman Mandi, a school teacher by profession and also a member of the Kharagpur Subdivision Referee Association, canceled a goal in favour of the team receiving Raja Khan's patronage, who suddenly entered the playground, disrupted the match, got into a heated altercation with the referee and eventually kicked him in his stomach.

At the time the incident took place, his uncle Soumen Khan was present on the occasion as a guest.

A political slugfest between the BJP and Congress has already broken out over the development.

The leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly had issued a statement claiming that this is the true culture of Trinamool Congress.

“In reality, the culture of Trinamool is to launch vile attacks on referees, whether it is Mamata Banerjee attacking the Election Commission of India, which plays the role of a referee in the electoral arena, or this petty, insignificant Trinamool member Raja Khan on the field of a local football tournament,” his statement read.

Trinamool Congress, however, condemned the incident.

“The matter is very unfortunate. But why will Trinamool Congress take the responsibility for a wrongdoing by the nephew of a local party leader? At least we will not listen to tall talks by BJP leaders on the matter,” said Trinamool Congress spokesman in the state, Arup Chakraborty.

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