The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) imposed a two-year ban on journalist Boria Majumdar after it found him guilty of intimidating wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha. The 37-year-old Indian cricketer had posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp chat with a ‘journalist’, which showed seemingly threatening messages being sent to Saha. On Wednesday, the BCCI concluded that the actions from Majumdar were ‘in the nature of threat and intimidation.’ (Also Read: BCCI slaps journalist Boria Majumdar with two-year ban for intimidating India cricketer Wriddhiman Saha)
In a statement, the BCCI detailed on their judgment over the incident.
“As you may be aware, Mr. Wriddhiman Saha had shared screenshots of messages sent by a journalist on social media platform, Twitter, wherein he stated that he felt bullied by the conduct of the said journalist. Mr. Saha in the hearing named Mr. Boria Majumdar as the journalist,” the statement from BCCI read.
“The Board of Control for Cricket in India had taken cognizance of this incident and deemed it necessary to investigate and probe the matter to avoid the recurrence of such instances with other players.
“In this regard, BCCI formed a committee comprising Mr. Rajeev Shukla, Vice President, BCCI, Mr. Arun Singh Dhumal, Treasurer, BCCI and Mr. Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, Councillor, BCCI (“BCCI Committee”). The key issues for deliberation for the BCCI Committee in the matter was to ascertain if the messages sent by the journalist were in the nature of threat and intimidation.
“The BCCI Committee considered the submissions by both Mr. Saha and Mr. Majumdar and concluded that the actions by Mr. Majumdar were indeed in the nature of threat and intimidation.”
Further in the statement, the BCCI posted a list of sanctions being imposed on Majumdar, which included a two-year ban on availing accreditation for cricket in India, and a further two-year ban on access to BCCI and state association-owned facilities.
“The BCCI Committee recommended the following sanctions to the Apex Council of BCCI. The Apex Council of BCCI agreed with the recommendations of the BCCI Committee and imposed the following sanctions:
i. 2 (two) year ban on getting any accreditation as a member of the press in any of the cricket matches (domestic and international) in India; 2 (two) year ban on getting any interview with any registered players in India; and
2 (two) year ban on access to any of BCCI and members associations owned cricket facilities,” wrote the BCCI.
The statement from the BCCI comes over two months after Saha had posted the screenshot on his official Twitter account. Currently, the Indian wicketkeeper-batter is a part of the Gujarat Titans franchise in the 2022 Indian Premier League.
