It came as a shock to the Japanese team, having lost its second consecutive game to Spain 1-4 on Friday, as they were going back to their hotel from the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.
Japanese colts may not be doing well during the ongoing Junior Men's Hockey World Cup but they had never expected this "hostile reception" in a city known for its culture.
It came as a shock to the Japanese team, having lost its second consecutive game to Spain 1-4 on Friday, as they were going back to their hotel from the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium. All of a sudden, two men in a Tata Safari (UP 32 GP 8850), displaying the flag of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) intercepted the team bus and took out their rifles to threaten the bus driver for overtaking their vehicle.
DNA learns that this incident took place near the Khurram Nagar crossing under the Ghazipur Police Circle. "The two threatened the Japan team's bus driver with a rifle. The players were obviously taken aback. Fortunately, no untoward incident took place. Thereafter one of the youth realised that the players were inside the bus," was how a team official inside the bus narrated the incident.
Before the bus driver could realise what was happening, the two men jumped out of their SUV, carrying the rifle, and started abusing the bus driver for overtaking their vehicle. "They felt it as a big insult when our bus overtook them on the way to hotel," said a team official on condition of anonymity.
The entire team was so shell-shocked that the bus was bolted from inside after the incident. "The players as well as team officials looked tense until the bus moved out from there," added the official. DNA has learnt that every team bus is being escorted by a police vehicle but as there was a huge traffic at the crossing, the escort zoomed ahead, leaving the team bus behind.
The Japanese team bus was stranded near the crossing for almost 20 minutes and could only move ahead, once the police reached the spot. Tournament organisers have been informed about the incident.
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