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| Kashmiri cricketer suffers terror tag; arrested, freed in Bangalore | | | Early Times Report
Jammu/Bangalore, Oct 18: Anguish ran high in Jammu and Kashmir as well as among keen watchers of this state in parts of country as Bangalore Police held a young Kashmiri cricketer suspecting that he was carrying explosives at the Champion’s League venue. The Ranji cricketer was let off as nothing incriminating proved.
The global cricket showpiece last evening watched sniffer dogs inspect the pitch ahead of a game after a Ranji player from Kashmir was detained on suspicion of carrying explosives into Bangalore’s T20 Champions League venue. Parvez Rasool, 21, whose kitbag had alerted a bomb detector Saturday morning, was questioned and released in the evening after nothing incriminating was found, but the bag has been sent to a forensic laboratory.
The incident means that if the Lahore attack on Sri Lankan players last March had robbed cricketers of their immunity from terror attacks, today they lost their immunity from terror suspicion — although many Kashmiris felt Parvez was targeted because of his origins.
Parvez, a Ranji player last season, was staying at the Chinnaswamy Stadium complex with his state under-22 team, who are here to play a C.K. Nayudu Trophy match. However, cricket officials in Srinagar, incensed at their boy’s “harassment”, have threatened a possible pullout.
Giving a clean chit to cricketer, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah today said the boy has no terrorist links but was trapped under conspiracy. ''Nothing incriminating was recovered from his bag and the cricketer is not having any links with the terrorists. He has been given a clean chit by the JKCA,'' Dr Farooq, who is also JKCA president, told reporters at the sidelines of a party meeting held in Jammu this afternoon.
The Minister however, said cricketer Parvez Rasool was not arrested but only taken for questioning by the Karnataka Police yesterday on the basis of inputs they received.
''Some vested interests, who do not want the state cricket team to play at various levels and perform excellent, made a phone call from here to the Bangalore Police and informed that the cricketer was carrying some explosives,'' Dr Farooq said adding that he had spoken to the Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) besides the Bangalore Police and the conspirators would soon be traced.
''The conspirators had tried to spoil team's image but appropriate action would be taken against them,'' he added.
''Bangalore Police has performed its duty. They, on receiving a phone call, questioned the cricketer and acted to avoid any untoward incident,'' he said.
The JKCA president further added the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved and it had also been admitted by the Union Home Minister P Chidambram and state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
''The cricketer have no connection with the terrorists and I am sure the team will spread a message of peace and love restoring in Jammu and Kashmir across the country,'' Dr Farroq added.
''The team will not return home but play all the matches and the boys will definitely perform well and fetch laurels to the state,'' the JKCA president added. The Bangalore Police questioned Rasool of under-22 team on specific inputs.
JKCA Under-22 team would play against Karnataka on October 21 followed by two more matches at Delhi and Mumbai in C K Naidu Trophy.
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