Chaos at Eden as SRK, KKR arrive late for felicitation

Chaos reigned as about a 100,000 fans turned up at the Eden Gardens to celebrate Kolkata Knight Riders' triumph in IPL 7, even as Bollywood actor and franchise owner Shahrukh Khan reached the venue late because of a delay in his flight.

"Sorry Kolkata technical snag on flight. Will be a bit late but will be there. Apologies," SRK said on his Twitter handle.

"Kolkata bound. Delay in flight but will make it ... Insha Allah nothing can stop us now," SRK tweeted.

While about 60,000 people managed to enter the stadium, thousands jostled in the surrounding Maidan area to gain entry which was 'free', but only through 'complimentary passes' from police stations in the metropolis and CAB-affiliated clubs in the state.

The stadium authorities opened the gates at 11:00 am to enable supporters enter well ahead of the start of the programme scheduled at 1:00 pm.

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People started lining-up at the Eden Gardens from as early as 9:00 am.

At times, police, with the help of the mounted personnel, had to wield lathis to disperse the crowd.

The delirious scenes with people, including women and children jostling, resembled KKR's victory celebration on May 29 two years ago.

Indipop singer Usha Uthup belted out popular Bollywood chartbusters to keep the spectators engaged till the arrival of the KKR team.

Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hugely successful 'Ab Ki Baar...' campaign, she sang a new theme song -- 'Ab ki baar KKR, Baar baar KKR, Baar baar chhukka maar' -- to the delight of spectators.

There were also a host of Bengali film and TV industry celebrities in attendance.

Needless to say there were traffic gridlocks and people commuting by public or private transport faced a harrowing time.