Terrorists may target IPL, cautions IB
An IB alert forwarded recently to MHA warned of terror threat to IPL matches.
By Bharti Jain, ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: Even as the IPL reworks the dates and venues for its Season II to avoid a clash with polls, the Intelligence Bureau has confirmed the security concerns of the Union home ministry regarding the tournament. An IB alert forwarded recently to the MHA has warned of a terrorist threat to the IPL matches to be held between April 10 and May 24.
The IB alert, according to MHA sources, speaks of possible attempts by terrorist outfits to target the tournament in a bid to paint India as an unsafe cricket destination. The design here is obviously to equate India with Pakistan, which only last week saw a daring terror strike on the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore as it travelled to the stadium. However, MHA sources said the IB warning is more general than specific and does not give out the locations
where the terrorists could strike.
The MHA, already concerned over the security of the matches in the wake of their timing coinciding with polls across the country, is in no mood to take the IB inputs lightly. It is likely to keep the alert in mind while firming up the force logistics for the event.
For now, the Union home ministry is awaiting the states��� response to the reworked IPL schedule it had forwarded on
March 7. Though the details of the new schedule are not known, it has reportedly left the opening and closing days of the tournament untouched.
The rejig, sources indicated, would ensure that no matches are scheduled on the day of polling or too close to polling. The IPL has also come up with alternate venues to host matches required to be shifted out of any of original nine venues. These include Cuttack, Vadodra, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Indore and Dharamsala.
While the inaugural match has been taken out from Jaipur to Mumbai, some of the venues that look set to lose matches are Chennai and Kolkata. While the Tamil Nadu government is not game on hosting the matches in the midst of polls, the West Bengal government fears that the preoccupation of the state police with election duties may pose a security challenge to the matches in Kolkata.
The MHA is yet to formally hear from the host states on the revised IPL schedule. The ministry bosses will firm up the security logistics once the exact force requirements of the states are clear. ���We will take a final decision as soon as the states cooperate with us and send across their opinion regarding the new IPL dates,��� a senior ministry official told ET.
Meanwhile, the cricket league has indicated that its new match time-table may be made public on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The IB alert, according to MHA sources, speaks of possible attempts by terrorist outfits to target the tournament in a bid to paint India as an unsafe cricket destination. The design here is obviously to equate India with Pakistan, which only last week saw a daring terror strike on the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore as it travelled to the stadium. However, MHA sources said the IB warning is more general than specific and does not give out the locations
where the terrorists could strike.
The MHA, already concerned over the security of the matches in the wake of their timing coinciding with polls across the country, is in no mood to take the IB inputs lightly. It is likely to keep the alert in mind while firming up the force logistics for the event.
For now, the Union home ministry is awaiting the states��� response to the reworked IPL schedule it had forwarded on
March 7. Though the details of the new schedule are not known, it has reportedly left the opening and closing days of the tournament untouched.
The rejig, sources indicated, would ensure that no matches are scheduled on the day of polling or too close to polling. The IPL has also come up with alternate venues to host matches required to be shifted out of any of original nine venues. These include Cuttack, Vadodra, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Indore and Dharamsala.
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While the inaugural match has been taken out from Jaipur to Mumbai, some of the venues that look set to lose matches are Chennai and Kolkata. While the Tamil Nadu government is not game on hosting the matches in the midst of polls, the West Bengal government fears that the preoccupation of the state police with election duties may pose a security challenge to the matches in Kolkata.
The MHA is yet to formally hear from the host states on the revised IPL schedule. The ministry bosses will firm up the security logistics once the exact force requirements of the states are clear. ���We will take a final decision as soon as the states cooperate with us and send across their opinion regarding the new IPL dates,��� a senior ministry official told ET.
Meanwhile, the cricket league has indicated that its new match time-table may be made public on Tuesday or Wednesday.
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