17 October,2009 04:59 PM IST | | Agencies
An under-22 cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir staying at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) complex in the Chinnaswamy Stadium has been arrested by the Bangalore police in connection with a suspected presence of explosives at the venue, Cricinfo.com reported.
Two matches of the Champions League are scheduled to be held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday but police have said they will be played only after a thorough check of the ground.
Police have asked the teams for the first game, Cape Cobras and Victoria, due to begin at 4.00pm to remain at their hotel until the search is over and the start time has been pushed back by an hour. Spectators are being allowed into the venue after thorough checks.
Briefing the media, Bangalore's police commissioner Shanker Bidari said the police acted on a tip-off on Friday night from the stadium staff: "When the police entered the room, the instruments pointed towards a bag but no explosives were found in it. Even then, as a measure of precaution, we have taken the person possessing the bag into custody. His antecedents are being verified from the Jammu and Kashmir police."
Bidari said the bag might have been used to transport explosives, which could have been shifted to another place.
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Ehsan Mirza, a senior official at Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, however, said they had been assured by KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel there was nothing untoward but they were not happy with the incident. "Our Under-22 team reached Bangalore on Friday evening from Bhubaneswar," Mirza told Cricinfo.
"Today morning some people - not sure whether Karnataka police or any other security agency - came to the KSCA and carried out interrogations and picked two of our boys Pervez Rassol and Mehrajudin (both from Kashmir). We spoke to Brijesh Patel and he assured us there was nothing untoward. But we are not happy with the incident. This is the height of indecency, the way our boys have been treated, and we are speaking to our president Farooq Abdullah to get the team back."
An official from the Jammu and Kashmir U-22 team said they were "shocked". "We are going to Mumbai soon. But now this has happened. All the boys are shocked. We are just waiting for further orders."
