A day after several people suffered minor injuries when a stampede-like situation prevailed at the Gymkhana grounds in Hyderabad, the police booked the management of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) over the incident. On Thursday, September 22, hundreds of cricket enthusiasts gathered to buy tickets for the India-Australia T20 match scheduled for September 25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal. Police resorted to lathi charge to manage the crowd, and a stampede-like situation ensued in which several people were injured and seven people were hospitalised.
Begumpet Station House Officer (SHO) P Srinivas Rao told TNM that a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against the HCA management responsible for the sale of tickets at the Gymkhana ground. Complaints were received from three people injured in the melee – Alia, Aditi and Sub-Inspector Pramod – Begumpet police said. “One complaint was regarding the sale of tickets in black. They also complained that there was no clear information on how many tickets would be sold at the location. After arriving there, people got to know that a limited number of tickets were being sold. Due to uncertainty over ticket availability, they said the public got agitated,” Srinivas Rao said. The HCA management has been booked under Sections 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Hyderabad City Police Act for not following regulations.
On Thursday, the injured persons, including two women, were taken to a hospital. According to the police, the women were in shock and also had difficulty in breathing, as a result of the stampede-like situation. They are said to be fine now. Meanwhile, a woman, who lost consciousness was helped by a policewoman who performed CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), police said. Media reports said the rush for tickets was because Hyderabad is hosting an international match after over two years.
Meanwhile, Telangana Sports Minister V Srinivas Goud held a meeting with government officials and HCA president and former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin on conducting the match. Goud said that a sound and transparent system should be followed in future in selling the tickets to avoid the recurrence of such incidents. He added that incidents like these could have been averted had the HCA sought the government's cooperation without acting unilaterally.
Observing that organising a match is not an easy task, Azharuddin said the HCA is ready to make corrections if any shortcomings are pointed out. Azharuddin, who described the incident as unfortunate, said Hyderabad has been allotted a match after a long time. It should be ensured that the "game goes forward", he said.
With PTI inputs