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High security for visiting Pak team
Pakistani team will be provided a high level security for their first Test beginning March 8 in Mohali, a senior police official has said.
The visiting Pakistan cricket team will be provided a high level of security for their first Test match beginning March 8 in Mohali, a senior police official has said.
"We will give them high category security and areas and roads that they go to would be properly sanitised," Punjab police chief (director general of police) SS Virk told IANS on Saturday.
The Indian team, which toured Pakistan last year after a gap of 15 years, had been accorded security given to a visiting head of state. The airport area where the team arrived in Pakistani port city of Karachi (please check this) and the entire stretch of road was made out of bounds.
Virk said there was no provision for head of state type security here but maximum security would be provided to the Pakistani players in view of threat from right wing fundamental organisations.
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium - the venue of the March 8-12 match - has been provided state police and private security.
Armed security men and commandos would be around both teams and individual players at all times, he said.
Security would be particularly tight at Hotel Mount View in Chandigarh - 10 kilometres from the stadium - where both teams will stay.
The floors where the teams would stay would have 24-hour heavy security and access would be denied to anyone other than officials.
Virk said to prevent any inconvenience to the public, no roadblocks would be set up but when the team buses will move, traffic could be held up for a few minutes.
The Punjab and Chandigarh police would coordinate security plans since players would be in Chandigarh and Mohali both.
Though the match is to be played during March 8-12 and the Pakistan and Indian teams would arrive here only on March 6, the security set up would be in place partially in the next couple of days.
An officer with two guarding units had already been stationed at the stadium. This follows an abortive attempt by some right-wing Shiv Sainiks to uproot the pitch at the stadium.
The police were also making elaborate security arrangements for nearly 10,000 Pakistani spectators expected to arrive here for the match. There will be a separate enclosure at the stadium for them to prevent any untoward incident during the match.
Security would be present at the hotels and other places where the spectators would stay.
The Pakistan team that arrives in India February 28, will first go to Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh for a three-day warm up match with the Board President's XI.
