Foolproof security for India, Lanka teams

Kolkata, Feb 6 (UNI) Unwilling to be caught on the wrong foot after the Greg Chappell incident in Bhubaneswar, the West Bengal government has made foolproof security arrangements for him ahead of the first India-Sri Lanka ODI at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday.

''A foolproof security arrangement has been made for Chappell.

We don't want to take any chance, '' state Home Secretary P R Roy told reporters at the Writers' Buildings here.

Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, also the CAB president, was personally supervising the security arrangements for the players, officials and other VIPs.

Mr Mukherjee held a meeting with his officers in the evening at the CAB office.

There was heavy police deployment at the NSC Bose International Airport when the Indian players and the coach arrived in batches and were whisked away to the team hotel in South Kolkata.

The Sri Lankan team arrived under a heavy security blanket in the afternoon and was taken to a separate hotel. A large number of security personnel lined the route from the airport to the team hotels.

The hotels had been sanitised and the security was so strict that the mediamen were also kept outside the hotel.

The ground was dotted with policemen and security personnel and security gadgets placed at every nook and corner.

Chappell was assaulted on January 22 at the Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar by a Kalinga Sena activist protesting against the non-inclusion of Oriya players in the Indian team.

UNI