Atanu Lahiri calls for legal action against Dibyendu Barua
Lahiri declares himself clean citing a report of the All India Chess Federation enquiry committee.
Published : Oct 22, 2019 21:02 IST
The crisis in the Bengal Chess Association (BCA) deepened further as its beleaguered secretary Atanu Lahiri declared himself clean citing a report of All India Chess Federation (AICF) enquiry committee and threatened to take legal action against GM Dibyendu Barua and all the people supporting him.
Dibyendu Barua, the first Grandmaster from Bengal, had brought charges of financial misappropriation and other irregularities against Lahiri, who was subsequently removed from his post by an ad hoc committee of BCA, formed after the controversy.
“Now that the enquiry has been completed by AICF and the report submitted, I have been completely exonerated of all charges and the allegations have been found to be without and basis and devoid of merit,” Lahiri said in a news conference on Tuesday.
The BCA ad hoc committee had slammed the “unilateral” decision of AICF saying that the national federation went ahead with the probe even when the matter is pending in a court in Kolkata.
“Dibeyandu Barua is selling a bunch of lies against me with the backing of the AICF secretary (Bharat Singh Chauhan). There is a big fissure in the AICF where the secretary and the president (P. R. Venketrama Raja) do not agree with each other. I had appealed to the AICF’s constitutional head for justice and the enquiry committee has now cleared me of all the charges,” Lahiri said, adding that he will now take legal steps against Barua and the people aiding him.