Mumbai Police to provide adequate security for IPL; dismisses terror threats

Police bandobast outside Dharavi bus depot, in October 2021. File pic

The ATS has arrested a terrorist who had recced Wankhede stadium and Trident hotel". This line was part of an internal message of the Mumbai police. Predictably, it triggered panic among the cops. Just that, there was no truth in this piece of ‘alert'. It was the outcome of a cut-and-paste job by a staffer who had copied a few lines from an old circular.

With the mega sporting event IPL set to begin from March 26 and Wankhede ground being a major venue, city cops recently went into a tizzy after an intra-department communication said that the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had nabbed a terrorist who had visited the iconic cricket ground and the plush hotel at Nariman Point. The police were more worried as Brabourne stadium in the vicinity will also hold matches of the Indian Premier League.

Sources told mid-day that there was no such alert or person arrested by the ATS. A source said the internal communication of the force had not been updated for many years. The person who was supposed to send out internal communication to the entire force about security arrangements had simply copied and pasted certain lines from a previous circular, creating a terror alert and its tidal effect on cops.

In no time, the "alert" went viral and got leaked to outsiders. "There is no such arrest by us and no such communication with the Mumbai police force," an ATS source told mid-day. Considering the gravity of the situation, Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey also gave a clarification. "News about #terrorthreat on #ipl is unfounded. Please don't rely on any such news," he wrote on Twitter.

Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil categorically denied there were threats to anyone. Ahead of any big events, sources said, the police force issues internal communication for the purpose of maintaining security and to avoid untoward incidents. "The internal communication has details of the security of locations where matches are to be played and the route that players would be taking," said an officer.

Sources also said that threat details gathered from other agencies are always mentioned in internal messages, but the way it has been mentioned in this particular communication indicates that there were some typos and it appeared that someone had copy-pasted from an old document. The Mumbai police also issued a statement on the goof-up. It read, "We are providing adequate security for IPL matches, however there is no such inputs shared by any agency that someone has recce hotel trident, Wankhede stadium and the route from Trident to Wankhede [sic]."

Tweet talk
Sanjay Pandey, police chief @sanjayp_1: News about #terrorthreat on #ipl is unfounded. Please don't rely on any such news