Don't feel secure in sending our team to India, next step depends on ICC's response: BCB president
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam on Monday said that "we do not feel secure" in sending the national team to India for the T20 World Cup considering the current circumstances.
Aminul spoke to reporters a day after BCB formally requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to shift their T20 World Cup games out of India, a strong move triggered by pacer Mustafizur Rahman's release from the IPL on BCCI instruction.
"You know that we, along with all the directors of the cricket board, held two meetings before taking this decision and at this moment we do not feel secure sending our team to India to play the World Cup," Aminul said.
"So we wrote a letter to the ICC, and in the letter we clearly stated what we wanted to say. Because to us, security appeared to be a major concern and that is what we are following.
"We have sent an email to the ICC and we are expecting them to tell us to have a meeting with them soon where we will express our concern," he said.
Aminul said BCB's next step will depend on ICC's response.
"But what our next step will be depend on the reply to the email we have sent. We are not communicating with BCCI because this is an ICC event. We are communicating with the ICC," he said.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, while announcing the diktat to release Rahman, had merely stated that it was being done because of "developments all around", without explaining the specifics.
Bangladesh was scheduled to play three T20 World Cup matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.
Drawn in Group C, the team was due to face the West Indies in their opening match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 7 and subsequently compete against defending champions England, Italy and Nepal.
The Indo-Bangladesh relationship has hit a rocky patch after the ouster of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August last year following anti-government protests.
She was sentenced to death in absentia by a tribunal for her alleged role in a deadly crackdown during the agitation in which several students were killed.
Hindus have been targetted for violent attacks since Hasina's ouster.
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Teen allegedly raped in Kanpur; local journalist held, cop's role under scanner
Kanpur (UP)(PTI): A local journalist has been taken into custody and a police constable's role is also under investigation in connection with the alleged abduction and gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in Kanpur's Sachendi area, officials said on Wednesday amid allegations of police apathy by the victim's family
According to the complaint, the minor, a class 7 dropout, had stepped out of her home around 10 pm on Monday night when she was allegedly abducted by two men travelling in an SUV. One of the accused was wearing a police uniform.
The girl told the police that she was taken to a deserted location near a railway track in Sachendi, where she was allegedly sexually assaulted inside the vehicle for nearly two hours. She was later abandoned in an unconscious state outside her house, they said.
The victim's brother said he found her lying outside the house around midnight in a semi-conscious condition, according to the complaint. He said he immediately alerted the police by dialling 112, but alleged that no prompt action was taken.
The family later approached senior officials on Tuesday, following which an FIR was registered under sections related to kidnapping and gang rape.
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The girl's brother alleged that when the family informed the police personnel that one of the accused was a policeman, they were turned away from a local police outpost.
Only after approaching senior officers was the case registered, he claimed, adding that the names of the accused were initially omitted from the complaint.
The police said that efforts are on to identify and arrest the police constable, and stressed that the investigation is being conducted with complete transparency.
The victim has undergone a medical examination and the report is awaited, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Dinesh Tripathi said.
"An FIR was initially registered against unknown persons under sections related to abduction and gang rape apart from under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Dinesh Tripathi told PTI.
Initially, the case was registered on the basis of the complaint against two unidentified accused persons, he said.
"During the investigation, the involvement of a police constable and a local journalist identified as Shivbaran came to light. The journalist has been taken into custody and is currently being questioned," he said.
"His arrest will be made after the interrogation is completed," the DCP said, adding efforts are on to identify and arrest the police constable involved in the case.
"All necessary steps are being taken, and the investigation is being conducted with complete transparency," Tripathi said.
