Jagan Mohan Rao, President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), was arrested on Wednesday, by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Hyderabad. The arrest comes after allegations of a ticket scam during the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. A vigilance probe into the matter found irregularities related to ticket allocation and governance within the HCA. It is alleged that Jagan Mohan Rao and other HCA officials pressured the IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for additional tickets, including tickets for personal sale, and engaged in black-marketing of tickets.

SRH had accused Rao of intimidation, coercion, and blackmail, claiming he even locked a corporate box hours before a match, demanding more complimentary tickets.

This action allegedly violated a tri-party agreement involving SRH, HCA, and BCCI, which allocates 10% of tickets as complimentary tickets to HCA.

The Telangana government had ordered a vigilance inquiry following these accusations, and the CID registered an FIR against Rao and other HCA officials after the probe confirmed the allegations of misuse of power and undue pressure on the SRH franchise.

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) reached a consensus to maintain the category allocation of 3,900 complimentary passes, following a meeting.

SRH had appealed to the BCCI and the IPL Governing Council to intervene and address what they described as recurring “blackmailing tactics” by the HCA, a claim the state association denied.

SRH had further threatened to consider relocating their home matches to another state if the HCA continued to “threaten” the franchise, primarily over the issue of additional complimentary tickets. SRH in turn threatened to move out their matches from Hyderabad.

To resolve the matter, HCA Secretary R. Devraj arranged a meeting with SRH officials at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. SRH representatives Kiran, Saravanan, and Rohit Suresh were present for the discussions.

“During the discussions, SRH proposed strictly adhering to the existing tri-party agreement between SRH, HCA, and BCCI, ensuring that 10% of the available stadium capacity across all sections is allocated accordingly,” HCA and SRH said in a joint statement.

“HCA, in turn, proposed maintaining the existing allocation of passes in each category, in line with the long-standing practice followed over the years.

“Following in-depth discussions and further telephonic deliberations with SRH CEO Mr. Shanmugam, the following resolution was agreed upon: The category allocation of 3900 complimentary passes to HCA will remain unchanged, consistent with established practice,” it said.

HCA has assured SRH of full cooperation in a professional manner moving forward.

“HCA and SRH are committed to working together amicably to enhance the spectator experience at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium,” a joint statement read.

(With PTI inputs)