WEST INDIES TEAM BUS ATTACKED BY ANGRY FANS

The West Indies team bus
came under attack from
angry Bangladesh fans while
it was leaving the Sher-e-
Bangla stadium in Mirpur on
Friday evening.
The team was on its way
back to the hotel at about
6.30 pm local time soon after
a compelling nine-wicket
victory over the hosts.

There
was a power failure and the
area was plunged into
darkness when the incident
happened. The fans mistook
the bus carrying the
Bangladesh team, informed
the local police chief. No
player was injured in the
incident but the window
panes of the bus were
cracked.

West Indies batsman Chris
Gayle was, however, rather
disturbed by the attack and
immediately tweeted saying,
“ This is ridiculous!!! Damn!!!
World Cup with so much
security and this happens. Big
joke. Trust me I ’m not keen
here. Every player lay flat!!!”

The West Indies team media
manager Philip Spooner later
informed that all the team
members were safe. “We left
the ground, on our way back
to the hotel, a couple of
stones did hit our window.
Two windows were cracked,
but not shattered. Both the
teams are now back to the
hotel and are safe.
“Everything is fine, everybody
is safe. Nobody is injured, no
one is hurt. Our manager will
notify the respective boards
and the ICC. He has spoken
to the team and we will leave
on Saturday. There is no
panic, everybody is fine,”
Spooner wrote. “They
thought that it was the
Bangladesh team bus and
hurled stones at it, ” said
Imtiaz Ahmad, Mirpur’s
deputy police commissioner
and chief of security.

Bangladesh Cricket Board
president Mustafa Kamal
apologized saying, “It is
unfortunate. There was
sufficient security, yet it
happened. We are very
sorry. ”
The BCB chief further said
that the bus came under the
attack soon after it moved
out of the security ring of the
police outside the stadium.

“ The stones were flung from
afar and six of them hit the
windows of the bus, ” said
Kamal.
Spooner, however, said that
only two stones hit the
windows. The West Indies
team will leave for India
where they play Ireland in
Chandigarh on March 11.

There were incidents of
violence, elsewhere too, as
fans were disgusted by the
home team ’s poor display. A
bus was torched at the
Dhaka University (about 10
kms from the stadium) as
students watching the match
on a giant television screen
lost their cool.

The angst of the
Bangladeshi fans continued
till late in the night here in
Dhaka with the team captain
Shakib Al Hasan ’s house too
being targeted. Irate fans
attacked Shakib ’s residence
in Keshabmur area of
Magura, around 100km
southwest of the capital.
(Time of India)