Virat Kohli’s fan, who breached multiple-tier security to fall at the feet of his icon during the first match of the ODI series in Jharkhand’s Ranchi on Sunday, is a tribal resident of a remote village, Madhurpur, in Bengal’s Arambagh.

Soubhik Murmu, a first-year undergraduate student of Kabikankan Mukundaram Mahavidyalay in Kesabpur, Arambagh in Hooghly district, went viral after his ‘virat (huge)’ leap to meet the cricketer.

Soubhik jumped across the stand railings and threw himself from a considerable height of the JSCA International Stadium to land on the space behind the advertisement boards. Soubhik then jumped across the advertisement boards, landed on one side of his body, took a roll and ran onto the pitch towards Kohli with security personnel running behind to stop him.

However, Soubhik could not be stopped. He went down on his knees and touched Kohli’s feet.

He was eventually arrested.

Samar Murmu, Soubhik’s father, said he went into shock after receiving a call from Jharkhand police about his son’s arrest.

“I received a call from an officer of Jharkhand police on Sunday evening. An officer informed me that my son had breached security and reached Virat Kohli. They said it was a crime and that is why Soubhik has been arrested,” said the father, a traditional medicine practitioner residing in Madhurpur village. “I am shocked and worried that he is arrested.”

“I told the police officer that my son was mad about cricket and a die-hard fan of Virat Kohli. I believe whatever he did was without any intention to harm anyone and result of his pure love for his dream cricketer. However, they are saying my son may have to go to jail,” the father added.

His father apart, Soubhik lives with his mother, Mangali, and a younger school-going sister. He had informed his family that he was going to Ranchi by train to watch the India–South Africa ODI match. According to family members, he left home on Friday afternoon and reached Ranchi on Saturday morning by train from Howrah.

He did not manage to get an online ticket, but somehow procured a ticket to enter the JSCA International Stadium once he reached Ranchi.

According to his mother Mangali, Soubhik is such a devoted fan of Kohli that he even grew his hair long and vowed not to get a haircut till he met his idol.

The worried father said he spoke to his son briefly on the police officer’s phone, during which Soubhik admitted that he “could not restrain” himself after seeing Kohli score a century.

India won the first ODI against South Africa by 17 runs on Sunday. Kohli’s imperious 135 off 120 balls helped India post a total of 349 for 8.

Soubhik has been passionate about cricket since childhood. He played for local teams and kept numerous photographs of Kohli on his mobile phone.

His father said Soubhik dreamt of being a cricketer and wanted to take admission in a cricket academy in Calcutta or Delhi to pursue the sport professionally.

“However, I said no as I cannot afford the costs of training. I asked him to complete his studies first and then focus on cricket,” said the father.

Despite this, Soubhik’s passion for cricket — and Kohli — continued unabated.

Last year, Soubhik cycled to Chennai to watch an IPL match in which Kohli was playing.

Sushanta Mandi, a youth from Soubhik’s village, said: “He’s also a big fan of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the former Team India captain.”

Samar contacted the local BJP MLA and the party’s Arambagh district president, Biman Ghosh, to help secure his son’s bail.

“I have already sent a person from here and contacted the authorities concerned in Ranchi through our party workers. He is an energetic boy and a die-hard fan of Virat Kohli. We are trying our best to secure his bail at the earliest,” said Ghosh.