Ganguly approaches police chief on sting operation at restaurant

KOLKATA - Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly Friday approached the Kolkata police chief and also sought legal opinion about a purported sting operation by a private Bengali television channel that claims to have shot visuals of scantily-dressed women dancers at his bar and restaurant here.

“I have taken legal opinion and also met Police Commissioner Goutam Chakraborty asking him to conduct an investigation into the entire matter,” Ganguly told reporters at the Eden Gardens after his maiden appearance at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Annual General Meeting (AGM) here.

The Channel 10 sting operation showed women dancing in the restaurant - Sourav’s The Food Pavilion - located in the upmarket Park Street in the central part of the city.

The Kolkata police said it has obtained CDs of the footage.

“We have got the CDs and are studying them. And then we will decide what is to be done,” Deputy Commissioner (detective department) of city police Jawed Shamim told IANS.

The police authorities said engaging professional dancers in hotels was illegal as licence was given only to singers.

Ganguly’s elder brother Snehashis earlier said the hotel had the required licenses.

Sourav Ganguly, however, said the sting operation has not left him embarrassed. “These things are part and parcel of life. There is nothing to feel embarrassed about. We will deal with it (the sting operation issue,” he said.

Asked whether the sting has some link with the CAB AGM, as it was aired a day before his maiden entry into cricket administration, Ganguly shot back, “What do you think? What is your opinion?”