Calcutta: Some of the RCTC members seemed to have woken up after The Telegraph exposed the inter-venue ‘crisis’ in these columns on Sunday. Members made their own investigation, which opened up a Pandora’s Box. They were left aghast by the findings which prompted them to seek a meeting with the club's stewards the same evening.

The meeting, which spilled late into the evening, was a stormy one, according to an RCTC insider. Questions thrown by some young members left the stewards, including the senior steward, Gen Shankar Roychowdhury, speechless, added the source.

The members’ queries included the meaningless spending of Rs 4 crore against the UBI Bank’s sanctioned loan of Rs 12 crore towards the development of the Russell Street property. Explanation was also sought for the Rs 1.3 crore spent on renovation of the racecourse office, which the members thought, was a Rs 30 lakh job at the most.

Sources disclosed that the angry members wanted to know why the D.L.Khan property was awarded for Rs 10 crore to a company in which a particular steward has a disclosed interest. Why didn’t the stewards follow a transparent process of a global tender for a prime property valued at close to Rs 20 crore, they queried?

Stewards were also asked to give a valid reason for the non-payment of about Rs 1.5 crore towards the inter-venue and broadcasting charges to other race clubs, as well as about Rs 1 crore which is due to the state government, by way of betting and other taxes.

The club members, including the ex-senior steward, B.M. Varma, were left dumbfounded by the disclosures. When asked to comment on the issue, Varma said: “I will be very sad if what I heard in the meeting about the present affairs of the club turned out to be true.”

Gen Roychowdhury declined to make a comment when asked what the future holds for RCTC.

“I’m not going to a comment on the matter since we are going to have an EGM next Monday,” was all that he said.

Stewards will be hard-pressed to justify the spendings. There is little doubt that the EGM is going to be another stormy affair.