A young Jammu and Kashmir cricketer was detained on Saturday by Bangalore police after detectors found traces of explosives in his kit bag, prompting the nervous organisers of the Champions League to delay the start of the quarter-final league matches. He was laer released and allowed to play cricket.
The detention of Parvez Rassol, an Under-22 J&K cricketer, threw the police into a tizzy with two League A matches of the high-profile tournament being scheduled in the Chinnaswamy stadium where the player was staying.
"Though we have not found any explosives in the bag, we suspect that some residue of the explosive may be in the bag which may have been used in the past for carrying explosives or transporting them elsewhere," Bangalore Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari said.
"We have seized the bag and detained the owner, Parvez Rassol, a first year BA student from Bijbehara in Anantnag district of J&K for questioning," he said.
Sources said the state police have already sent a request to its counterparts in J&K to do a background check on the player.
Meanwhile, a Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association official said that nothing has been found from the two cricketers picked up by the police for questioning.
"Our boys had gone to play some matches in Cuttack and from there they went to Bangalore yesterday. After landing in Bangalore, they got accommodation through Karnataka Association in the stadium itself and before entering the stadium they were checked (this morning)," Saleem Khan, secretary of JKCA said.
"The two boys had gone to police station, one is Pervez Rassol and other is Mehrazuddin. They are saying nothing has been found from them," he said.
The incident forced the organisers to delay the start of the Champions League match between Cape Cobras and Victoria Bushrangers till police authorities give the all clear signal.
The first match, originally scheduled to start at 1600 hrs IST, was delayed by atleast an hour. Pervez Rasool was later allowed to play.
