Journalist Majumdar found guilty; faces 2-year ban in Saha text case

New Delhi: Sports journalist Boria Majumdar has reportedly been found guilty in the Wriddhiman Saha text case and faces a two-year ban for the same, says a report in the Indian Express.

The news comes after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) set up a three-member committee in February, comprising vice-president Rajiv Shukla, treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal, and Apex Council member Prabhtej Singh Bhatia to look into the matter where Saha took to Twitter to post a screenshot of threatening messages from Majumdar over an interview request.

"We will be informing all state units of the Indian cricket board to not allow him inside stadiums. He won't be given media accreditation for home matches and we will also be writing to ICC to blacklist him. Players will be asked not to engage with him," a top BCCI official was quoted as saying in the report on condition of anonymity.

On February 19, Saha wrote on Twitter while sharing the screenshot of the chat, "After all of my contributions to Indian cricket...this is what I face from a so called "Respected" journalist! This is where the journalism has gone."

One of the messages in the chat read as, "You did not call. Never again will I interview you. I don't take insults kindly. And I will remember this."

The report also said that Saha eventually identified Majumdar as the journalist in question when he came in front of the committee. Majumdar eventually identified himself through a video on Twitter and claimed that he would take legal action against Saha.

"While deposing before the committee, Saha identified Majumdar and alleged that he was "bullied" for an interview.

Meanwhile, Majumdar accused the cricketer of "doctoring" the screenshots of the WhatsApp messages he had posted on Twitter and later shared with the committee," further said the report. Saha's tweet took the cricketing world by storm, with former India opener Virender Sehwag offering his support to Saha and urging him to name Majumdar, who hadn't been identified till then.

"Extremely sad. Such sense of entitlement, neither is he respected nor a journalist, just chamchagiri. With you Wriddhi," tweeted Sehwag at that time.

When Saha had explained a couple of days later over his reasons on not revealing the name of the journalist, Sehwag had said, "Dear Wriddhi, it's not your nature to harm others and you are a wonderful guy. But to prevent such harm from happening to anyone else in the future , it's important for you to name him. Gehri saans le, aur naam bol daal(take a deep breath, and reveal the name)."

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh too had called Saha to reveal the name of the journalist that time on Twitter.

"Wridhi you just name the person so that the cricket community knows who operates like this. Else even the good ones will be put under suspicion... What kind of journalism is this ? @BCCI @Wriddhipops @JayShah @SGanguly99 @ThakurArunS players should be protected."