‘Uncomfortable’ presence of outsiders at Mirpur stadium

Security concern is a quickly growing issue in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium's premises due to the presence of outsiders.

While some club officials and organisers were seen coming with banners on Tuesday, demanding justice for the irregularities and corruption in the board under the Awami League government, on Wednesday there were presence of outsiders not affiliated with cricket.

Bangladesh 'A' team began their training following the unrest in the country but the presence of outsiders created an eerie atmosphere. Some were seen patrolling the periphery of the BCB offices while from time to time, media personnel saw people coming in with bikes and entering the premises of the stadium through gate number 2, virtually unobstructed.

Security personnel seemed unsure about the comings and goings. Inquired about these people, security personnel were not sure about their identity. They said, "Some of them quarrelled amongst themselves because there were two separate groups present at the same time."

A BCB official said, "It's an uncomfortable situation right now for everyone. It's a time for transition for the country. Let's see and hopefully after the interim government is formed, things will normalise."

Shahriar Nafees, in charge of BCB's cricket operations, was asked about the overall situation in terms of security or lack of it.

"Our players, many of them have practised in such situations. We have seen before that when change of power comes, this happens. But our regular staff are aware of the situation. The atmosphere in the whole country is a bit uncertain. We hope that just like the whole country would get back to normalcy in one to two days and run normally, the cricket board too would run in its normal course."

A patrol team of Bangladesh Army had visited the stadium as part of routine patrol.

"Bangladesh Army patrol team has been visiting since August 6. It's their routine work and not because of any security threat. The way they have been maintaining law and order in the country to normalise the situation, it's part of that," Shariar claimed.