Pakistan fans restricted

Turmoil across the border forces Centre to allow only 100 tickets

CHANDIGARH: The recent bomb blasts in Ludhiana and Ajmer have prompted the Centre to reduce the number of Pakistan cricket fans coming here for Thursday’s one-day international between India and Pakistan from 2,000 to 250.

Following the turmoil in Pakistan, the authorities have further slashed the number of tickets  to be sold to the Pakistanis to a mere 100. The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) had earlier requested for at least 2,000 tickets for Pakistani fans.

Senior officials said the Centre could not take chances after the role played by Pakistan’s ISI in the recent blasts. Eleven Pakistanis, who were allowed visas for a cricket match in 2006, never returned to their country. Three of them were later identified as agents of Pakistan intelligence agencies. One of them was arrested in Jalandhar, another in Gurdaspur and the third in Kolkata.

The Centre has asked Punjab police to keep a close watch on the movements of the visitors. It has decided to grant the visitors “police reporting visas”, making it mandatory for them to report their arrivals and stays to local police stations.

The Union home ministry has directed the Punjab government not to allow any Pakistani to halt in Punjab on #way to Mohali from the Wagha border. The visitors will be picked from Wagha border and escorted by police to their places of stay in Chandigarh and Mohali.