‘Probe ordered against sub-inspector’: Greater Chennai Police on tricolour row
The Greater Chennai Police said this was an isolated incident, and spectators were seen freely carrying and displaying the Indian tricolour inside the stadium
CHENNAI: An inquiry has been ordered into the conduct of a police sub-inspector following allegations that he did not allow a batch of spectators into the MA Chindambaram Stadium with a tricolour, the Greater Chennai Police said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday evening.
The police statement was a response to the barrage of criticism over allegations on social media that security personnel deployed at the stadium had stopped spectators from carrying the Indian national flags inside ahead of the Pakistan-Afghanistan World Cup match. The accusation was primarily based on one video clip in which a police officer was seen retrieving two flags from a dustbin and taking it to the police vehicle while bystanders asked why the flags were discarded in the first place.
“Enquiry has been initiated against the SI concerned deployed for bandobust duty at MAC Stadium . He was recalled to Control Room. Appropriate action as per law will be taken based on the findings,” the city police said in a statement on X.
Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rushed to criticise Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government led by MK Stalin had banned spectators from carrying the tricolour into the stadium so that Pakistan wasn’t provoked and this reflected the stand of the 28-partry opposition grouping, INDIA.
“Though they’ve failed miserably in this misadventure, the DMK Govt today stooped to an all-new low by banning entry to our Country’s Tricolour inside the Chepauk stadium,” Annamalai posted on X on Monday. “They hate everything about this great nation, from Sanatana Dharma to our sovereignty and wish to remain a parrot of our coloniser.”
The city police rebutted this charge, underlining that this was an isolated incident of a police officer prohibiting a spectator from carrying the Indian flag to a Pakistan-Afghanistan match.
“Apart from this solitary incident, no other reported . It is observed that many spectators are freely carrying and displaying the Indian tricolour inside the stadium,” the police statement said.
To be sure, many on social media appreciated the spectators in Chennai for their sportsmanship and cheering for players of Pakistan and Afghanistan during the match and wearing their jerseys besides carrying the Indian tricolour and wearing blue jerseys.
