A day after the Services team apologised for pulling out of a Ranji Trophy match in Srinagar on security grounds, Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju has said that the decision not to play at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium was “unfortunate” and taken at a “lower level”.

The minister said that while the ministry wants to send the Services team to play in Srinagar, the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) exercised its right not to play based on the prevailing threat perception.

While an internal inquiry has been launched to probe the goof up that led to the cancellation of the tour, the decision to hold back the team from playing in Srinagar was apparently taken by the SSCB president, Vice Chief of Navy Staff, Vice Admiral SK Dewan, on the basis of a security assessment by the Military Intelligence (MI) advising that the event should not be held at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium.

It transpires that the intelligence alert put out by MI, which was not corroborated by any other intelligence agency, was the main reason for cancellation of the match. The security assessment warned that there was a plan to disrupt the match and militants would enter the stadium after intermingling with spectators.

The assessment said that besides the possibility of heckling and stone throwing, there was likelihood that crackers would be burst at the stadium, followed by a full scale attack using firearms.

The assessment was passed upwards to the Directorate of Military Training by the Srinagar based 15 Corps. Sources said that SSCB then also asked the Army to make security arrangements. However, while the 15 Corps promised adequate security cover for the players accommodation and transportation to the stadium, it expressed an inability to guarantee security of the stadium itself.

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