Staff Reporter :At least 20 people were injured after cricket fans locked into clashes with police in the capital on Saturday following the rumour that all tickets for the Asia Cup final match were sold out.The clash was erupted at noon in front of United Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) branch at Mirpur-10 where cricket fans swarmed from early Saturday for tickets of Bangladesh-India final match in Asia Cup T-20 cricket to be held at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.Witnesses said that hundreds of cricket fans, who were standing in long queues before the bank counters for hours to get tickets, got enraged following the rumour and tickets were being sold by black marketeers.They became more furious when the bank authorities also failed to open the ticket sale even after the scheduled time and engaged in a bowl with police over the issue. The situation worsened further when the angry fans busted into agitation and threw brickbats at the building of the bank branch and vandalized several vehicles.As law enforcers tried to disperse the unruly crowd resorting to baton charge, a chase and counter-chase took place between them triggering the clash and left 20 people injured.On information, additional police rushed the spot and lobbed teargas canisters to quell the situation. In retaliation, the cricket fans also threw brickbats on police.Traffic movement on Mirpur-10 to Mirpur-12 came to a halt for nearly one hour following the incident. Police also detained eight to ten people from the spot.The ticket selling for the Bangladesh-India Asia Cup final match also came to a halt following the clash between the cricket-lovers and police. It however, resumed later as police could tame the angry ticket-seekers. Bhuiyan Mahbub Hossain, Officer-in Charge (OC) of Mirpur Police Station told The New Nation on Saturday evening that the cricket fans had started gathering in front of UCBL’s branch since morning. But they got incensed when they heard that the tickets for the Bangladesh-India Final match were already sold. “They later started hurling brick bats at the bank and vandalising vehicles in the street. At one stage, police charged batons and lobbed tear gas shells on them to quell the situation,” he added.He added: “We dispersed the crowd and brought the situation under control.” Mahbub Hossain also said the police have detained some people from the spot. However, he could not confirm the exact figure of the detainees.Police personnel put on alert to tackle any kind of untoward incident, he added.
