Ajay Jadeja cops INR 5,000 fine for dumping garbage in a Goa village

Ajay Jadeja, the former Indian cricketer, found himself in controversy after being fined INR 5,000 for dumping garbage in Nachinola, a village in Goa. Trupti Bandodkar, the sarpanch of the village, put forth the development on Monday, June 28.

The village is situated in the neighbourhood of Jadeja’s bungalow at the Aldona village in North Goa. A number of celebrities reside in Jadeja’s village, namely renowned writer Amitav Ghosh. The sarpanch also stated that Jadeja paid the fine without making a fuss.

We found a bill in the name of Ajay Jadeja in some bags of garbage: Sarpanch

“We are plagued by the garbage issue in our village. Garbage from outside is also dumped in the village, so we appointed some youth to collect the garbage bags and scan them for any proof to identify the culprits,” the sarpanch was quoted as saying in Times Now.

“We found a bill in the name of Ajay Jadeja in some bags of garbage. When we informed him not to dump the garbage in the village in the future, he said he was willing to pay the fine. So he paid it. We are proud that such a celebrity, a popular cricket player, stays in our village, but such people should follow the garbage norms,” he added.

Jadeja was a prominent member of the Indian national cricket team and his career lasted eight years from 1992 to 2000. In 15 Tests and 196 ODIs, he managed 576 and 5,359 runs respectively with six centuries 34 half-centuries to show for his efforts.

His highest score of 119 came against Sri Lanka in Colombo back in 1997. He also scored tons against Zimbabwe, Australia, and West Indies. Jadeja made his last appearance for India in an ODI against Bangladesh in June 2000 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.

During those times, his name also emerged in the match-fixing scandal that rocked Indian cricket. He was thereafter banned for five years from all forms of cricket.

In 2003, the Delhi High Court overturned the ban due to lack of evidence. Jadeja tried to make a comeback but didn’t get much support from the BCCI.