Amid chaos and stampede, all the offline tickets for the India vs England ODI match at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack have been sold out in the counters on Wednesday.
“The high-value tickets were sold out around 4.30 pm. All the tickets were sold out at the main gents counter at around 6.30 pm. Huge rush was witnessed in this counter with long queues stretching up to 350 to 400 metres in as many as four lines,” said Cuttack DCP Jagmohan Meena.
There were scenes of chaos, causing a stampede-like situation as eager cricket fans gathered in large numbers to buy tickets near the stadium.
Reflecting upon the development, Meena said, “People have an emotional attachment, enthusiasm and craze for the international match at the Barabati Stadium. So, some of them just could not wait patiently for their turn to buy tickets. As a result, they pushed and pulled other people even while standing inside the barricade. However, we managed to control the situation by deploying adequate force and keeping the people in queues.”
Meena further informed that all the offline tickets have been sold out and there will be no sale of tickets tomorrow.
Must Read: Offline ticket sale for Ind Vs Eng ODI at Barabati: Stampede-like situation sparks chaos
“We received some allegations that some people entered inside queues from sides and some others again joined the queues after buying tickets. It was also alleged that some people without any knowledge of cricket stood in queues to buy tickets. Whenever we found some people like that we kept them out of the queues. Drinking water was provided to the people on a regular basis,” said Meena.
Fans break barricades
As per reports, some people, who were waiting in long queues near the counters since Tuesday night, broke the barricades out of frustration after they could not buy tickets. When the counters were about to be closed at 6 pm and some people didn’t get tickets after waiting for a long time, they lost their cool and managed to reach the counter by breaking the barricades. They expressed their dissatisfaction over the development and questioned why they didn’t get tickets after waiting in long queues for such a long time. Police had a very tough time in controlling the situation.
“I have come a long way from Bhadrak. I waited in long queues patiently for my turn since Tuesday night. However, I didn’t get tickets due to mismanagement by the administration,” rued a fan.
