A pitch invader jumped the fence and dodged the security to make his way through the pitch during the IPL match between RCB and MI on Saturday (April 9). Now Maharashtra Cricket Association has taken it's congnizance and called it a security lapse and said it shouldn't have happened.
A 26-year-old man from Satara district was arrested for trespass after he entered the cricket stadium in Gahunje to give a bump fist to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) player Virat Kohli before he started approaching Rohit Sharma.
“It was certainly a security lapse. The police should not have allowed the man to run up to the players. They should have stopped him before he jumped the fence. In such cases, anything can happen…,” MCA president Vikas Kakatkar said.
“Even a small incident vis-a-vis players’ security should not be allowed to happen. It was a security lapse and we have taken up the issue with the police. We have asked them to take all necessary steps to ensure that such incidents are not repeated at the stadium," he added.
The man named Dashrath Jadhav was charged under IPC sections 447 (criminal trespass) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty ) as he allegedly indulged in an altercation with police while being taken out of the ground, said Senior Inspector Madhukar Sawant of Talegaon police station.
The incident has also led to verbal duel between the MCA officials and the Pimpri-Chinchwad police.
When asked about MCA’s charge, Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissioner Krishna Prakash said,”It was not a security lapse. It was ‘excessive enthusiasm’ from the cricket fan. How can it be a security lapse when we have deployed 600 police personnel to guard the stadium and the players ? We have put in tight security measures at the stadium.”
“We don’t need to review the security inside the stadium as we have put in stringent security measures. But, yes, we will have a re-look at the system in place so as to prevent such fencing jumping incidents in future," he added.
Meanwhile, former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar termed it as a ‘serious security concern’. “Of late, I have not heard of such an incident…A spectator going right up to the players is indeed a matter of serious security concern. Such incidents should be avoided at any cost," he said.
