24 February,2011 05:53 AM IST | | Manjunath L Hanji
Police did not allow cricket fans to queue up for tickets before 6 am, for security and hygiene reasons
Over 6,000 World Cup fans were jostling outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium last night to buy tickets for the India-England match, braving the cold and police lathis. The reason? The cops are playing it safe this time, and do not want another embarrassment on their hands like the twin blasts during IPL 3 last year in April.
Commotion: The chaos outside the stadium last night. Pic/Ramesh HS
They called in reinforcements, and announced to a disappointed crowd that they should return at 6 am, as they wouldn't allow them to form queues before that. But fans, prepared for a long wait, knew that if they came in the morning there were slim chances for them to get a ticket, and had come armed with food packets and water, so that they could sleep or sit in the queue.
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PI Sharif Ravukar said, "How do we know for sure there are only cricket fans in this crowd? Someone might slip in a bomb while in a queue like last year. We are not taking any risks here. Ticket counters will open at 9 am, and we'll start allowing them to start forming queues at 6 am. Until then, they'll have to stay away. We are only following orders."
Another police official attached to Cubbon Park police station said, "It will be a horror if we allow them near ticket counters now. They will dirty the premises by spitting and urinating. Some of them won't even hesitate to defecate near counters. They should be grateful that we are not allowing them to form queues. We have seen so many cases of pickpocketing in such scenarios."
But fans kept playing hide and seek with the cops. A majority of them said that they would go back only after they got tickets. Sibojit, a BE student, said, "We will be here until morning. If only the cops allow us to form queues, it will be easier for all of us."
Joseph K, another fan, said, "This is the first time in Bangalore that cops are not allowing us to form queues. It will only get worse, because more and more people are arriving by the minute. By morning it'll be a much larger crowdu00a0-- even more difficult to manage. I am not leaving before getting my tickets." Santosh, a manager, said, "They are not even allowing us to sit on the road. This is really unfair."
About 6,000 cricket fans were jostling outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium at 5:30 am
