Thousands of cricket enthusiasts gathered at the Gymkhana grounds today to buy tickets for the upcoming T20 cricket match between India and Australia on September 25 in the city. And alleged poor arrangements by the HCA resulted in a huge stampede at the venue.
The authorities concerned set up queues from Paradise circle to the Gymkhana Grounds. However, the venue received a much larger number of ticket-seekers than expected, and as the shoving to reach the main gate of the grounds started going out of hand, the police resorted to a lathi-charge to control the crowd.
The stampede and the lathi-charge led to some 20 persons and 10 police personnel getting injured.
Some of those injured were women, and they were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment.
The city police slammed the Hyderabad Cricket Association for its "failure" in organizing a proper sale of the tickets at the grounds. North Zone Additional Commissioner of Police D S Chauhan blamed the HCA authorities for their "failure to make proper arrangements like setting up adequate number of ticket counters at the Gymkhana grounds".
Responding to rumours that a woman enthusiast had died in the stampede, Chauhan clarified that a woman was only injured in the incident, and had been rushed to a private hospital for treatment. He added that the situation was under control, and urged the citizens not to believe rumour-mongers.