At Least three top BCCI and IPL officials\u2019 reaction to actor and Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta was \u201cCongratulations, your team won\u201d, when she narrated the alleged incidents of verbal abuse and molestation, minutes after she was reportedly publicly humiliated by industrialist and ex-boyfriend Ness Wadia, according to her supplementary statement recorded by the Marine Drive police station.\nShe had also voiced her intention to lodge a police complaint against him to them, according to her statement dated June 24.
\nPost match, Zinta reportedly walked to the stadium grounds to congratulate her team after Kings XI Punjab beat Chennai Super Kings in the IPL semi-final playoff, when she was spotted and waylaid by Wadia. \u201cWhen he saw me, Ness began to scream at me. I told him to stop abusing or else I would immediately call the police and lodge a complaint, and went away,\u201d Zinta\u2019s fresh statement read.
\n\u201cI walked away from him (Wadia), and met BCCI Chief Executive Officer Sunder Raman. \u201cI told Raman about the incidents that took place and that I was going to file a police complaint against Wadia,\u201d Zinta told the police. In Raman\u2019s statement recorded on June 19, the BCCI CEO confirmed that Zinta approached him after the presentation ceremony at Wankhede Stadium at 12.30 am on May 31. \u201cShe told me that Wadia swore at her, grabbed and pulled her hand, and humiliated her at Garware Pavilion, because his family members could not find seats. She also said she wanted to lodge a complaint with the police. I calmed her down, told her that since her team had won the match, an appropriate decision would be taken about the incident later,\u201d Raman\u2019s statement read. He also said Zinta requested him \u201cto be seated away from Wadia for the next match\u201d.
\nZinta further narrated in the statement that after speaking with Raman, she potted IPL Chairman Ranjib Biswal and BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel, and she approached them repeating the narration of incidents to the two. \u201cWhile giving them the information, I was shivering. They (then) congratulated me on the particular match being won by my team,\u201d her statement read.
\nOn June 13, Zinta had first submitted an application to the Marine Drive police station, alleging that Wadia, a co-owner in Kings XI Punjab IPL franchise, had molested and verbally abused her on three different occasions on May 30 at Wankhede stadium. Zinta\u2019s supplementary statement, which was recorded at the same stadium on June 24, details the three incidents. BCCI had allotted 50 seats in the Garware Pavilion to Kings XI Punjab, and 12 out of the additional 35 seats allotted in the air-conditioned VIP hospitality box were picked by Zinta. In the first row, Zinta was seated with a top media executive, her friends, builder Danish Merchant and her make-up man Jai Kanojia. Some of Wadia\u2019s friends were seated next to Kanojia. The parents of Kings XI Punjab batsman David Miller and two young boys were seated behind Zinta\u2019s contingent.
\n\u201cAbout 30-45 minutes into the match, I saw Wadia stand up at the aisle of rows three and four, and scream at Fraser Castellino, Kings XI Punjab Chief Operating Officer, and Tara, who was responsible for seating and hospitality. I gestured to Wadia to keep quiet. But he ignored it and screamed at me to \u2018Come Here!\u2019. When I went to him, he abused me. I told him that I was not at fault and went back to my seat,\u201d the statement further read.
\nWhen the Chennai Super Kings began to bat in the second innings, Zinta said, Wadia came up to her, grabbed her arm and shook it violently. \u201cMy friend Jean, who was sitting next to me, got up, scolded Ness and told him to go, which he did. Then I watched the rest of the match,\u201d said her statement. Make-up man Kanojia said, in his statements, that while he saw Wadia scream at the team management, he did not pay much attention as he was engrossed in the match. \u201cDuring the second innings, I saw Wadia grab Zinta\u2019s arm, but right at that moment, cricketer (Virendra) Sehwag struck a boundary and there was a lot of cheering and stadium\u2019s sound system was blaring songs, so I did not hear the conversation between Wadia and Zinta,\u201d his witness statement read. The third incident allegedly took place after the match, when both Zinta and Wadia went down to the ground to congratulate the players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"