The shoes outside Gate No 16 on the left and the crowd at the Kotla Stadium on right. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)
The Delhi Police have resorted to a lathi charge to control the crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Thursday. Fans of over 15000 have reached the stadium to see Virat Kohli play the first Ranji trophy game for Delhi since November 2012.
“There was a rush at the time of entry as only one gate was being used by DDCA,” Delhi police said in a statement. “No report of any injuries. The situation is normal,” the statement further added.
Initially gate numbers 16 and 17 for open for the crowd to get in, however, as there was a rise DDCA opened gate number 18 to accommodate safe passage into the stadium.
January 30 is marked as Martyrs’ Day to pay tribute, to Mahatma Gandhi. “The Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg is closed for PM Narendra Modi as he will be going to Raj Ghat to pay his tribute,” said our reporter from the ground Pratyush Raj.
“Gate No 16 was closed as the stands were packed. Then the crowd started heckling and it forced the DDCA to open gate no 18,” Partyush Raj added. Gate 16 falls on the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
Outside Gate 16, the crowd was involved in pushing and heckling the security guards and Delhi Police. A couple with a five-year-old kid fell down, while entering the game and got injured. A police bike was damaged. One of the police constables needed a bandage on the leg.
Earlier the state association has thrown the game open for free entry to the public, with the only caveat that the fans should bring in their Aadhaar card. The broadcasters Jio Cinema, who weren’t originally scheduled to broadcast the game live, are now making arrangements for a live telecast.
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The DDCA secretary also said that they have requested the Delhi Police to beef up security.
However, A fan invaded the pitch within the hour, and chants rung from the Delhi metro onto the ground, as authorities had to scramble to accommodate more people in the stands.
