This is one bouncer chief minister Narendra Modi is finding tough to duck. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, is playing spoilsport. At stake is the fate of two games Modi likes most — cricket and chess. Under cloud is also Rifle Club where key witnesses were threatened in this sporting encounter.

With the central agency tightening noose around two of Modi’s closest aides, Amit Shah and Ajay Patel, the impact on two games in the state will be noticeable. Former MoS home Shah, now under CBI arrest, controlled Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) as vice-president. Patel — he is still absconding — heads the Gujarat State Chess Association (GSCA).

These are the two games Modi was betting big on. When Modi wanted to wrest control of GCA, he turned to Shah, who after a prolonged legal battle, ousted Congressman Narhari Amin last year.

At the eleventh hour, Shah made way for Modi to take over as GCA president even as he became his deputy. Shah, who was also the president of GSCA, handed over the charge to his trusted lieutenant Ajay Patel, who has been charged with destruction of evidence and intimidation of witnesses at Rifle Club, which was a favourite hang-out for Shah and his cronies. Patel is also the secretary of the Gujarat State Shooting Association and vice-president of the National Rifle Association of India. During Gujarat’s Golden Jubilee year, Patel was executing Modi’s grand plans for Ahmedabad to enter the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest number of people playing chess simultaneously with an event planned on December 24 when 20,000 players were supposed to turn out to break Mexico City’s 2006 record of 13,446.

Modi’s cricket hopes, as GCA president, were dashed some months back when Ahmedabad failed to make a successful bid for an IPL team. Source by timesofindia