India postpones Bangladesh Cricket tour based on RAW’s recommendation – Al-Queda ready to strike against Indian cricket team in Bangladesh?
Rani Angurvedi, Special Correspondent
December 06, 2004 

According to sources, India may have found solid ground to believe that Al-Queda may have planned to create a massacre on Indian cricket team in Bangladesh. An Islamic terror group apparently threatened to kill all the members of the team. But sources say that kind of threats are made all the time and were also there when Indian team went to Pakistan. Sources also say, Indian intelligence division RAW got alarmed when it learnt about a sinister plot by possibly Al-Queda and others in Bangladesh to create major drama and massacre around the Indian team. It could be the Kashmiri militants too.

According Bangladesh Government, there is nothing much to worry. However, recent assassination attempt on former Prime Minister and daughter of legendary Mujibur Rehman – Seikh Hasina provided RAW the first and concrete glimpse of Al-Queda and ISI inroads to Bangladesh mainstream infrastructure. The former Prime Minister was shot upon twice and it was a miracle that she was unhurt while many of her associates and bodyguards were killed.

Sources say the Indian team specially Saurav Ganguli is reluctant to take the risk. 

The Indian cricket team's tour of Bangladesh starting next week today hung in the balance following a militant group's threat to kill the Indian players even as a high-level security team flies to Dhaka tomorrow to make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation. Indian Cricket Board President-elect Ranbir Singh Mahendra, said the team's departure for Dhaka, scheduled for December 7, had been postponed following an advise from the Government in the wake of the threat issued by a little-known militant group Harkut-ul-Zihad, suspected to be a shadow of Harkat-ul-Jihad Islamia (HuJI). 

The Indian security team, headed by Inspector General rank officer Yashowardhan Azad, would visit Dhaka and Chittagong, where the visiting team would play two Tests and three-day one-internationals, and assess the security in the stadiums and hotels where the Indian cricketers would play and stay. The security team would be in Bangladesh for a couple of days before submitting its report. The threat handed out by Harkat-ul-Zihad was contained in a letter to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. India's Deputy High Commissioner S Chakraborty, told PTI that it had received a letter from the group stating that they would kill the Indian cricketers if they toured the country. 

"The trip (by the Indian cricket team) appears quite uncertain at the moment because the BCCI would have to decide if they feel safe to come to Bangladesh following this threat," he said adding the threat could not be ignored. Chakraborty said the fate of the tour would depend on the outcome of the review of the situation by both sides. "We want this tour to go ahead." He said the High Commission had informed the Bangladesh Government about the threat and they had ensured fool-proof security to ensure the tour goes on. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, said security of the players was of paramount importance and the Governments of India and Bangladesh would have to take care of this aspect. "The Home and External Affairs Ministries will try to do whatever is needed to do on the security aspect," he said. Mahendra told PTI that the Indian team will not leave for Bangladesh before December 8 following an advise from the Government. 

"We have received a letter from the Government asking us not to send the team before December 8," he said. Cricket Board's Joint Secretary Goutam Dasgupta, said the Board has informed its Bangladesh counterpart about the delay in departure and also that it was waiting for a clearance from the Government. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official Reazuddin al-Mamun, told a press conference in Dhaka that he did not see any reason for the India to call off the tour. "The letter (by the militant group) has wrong English. We do not think it should be given any credence. We look forward to welcome the Indian team," he said. BCB President Ali Azghar Lobby said a letter had already been sent to the Indian Cricket Board ensuring tight security for the series. "We have written that BCB takes full responsibility for the series. We have said that these type of threats usually turn out to be misleading and fake and should not spoil the series," he told PTI.