Around 2,000 people sent back home as cops swoop in on Jain Jagruti Samiti for organising event without police permission

It was around 2 pm when more than 2,000 people assembled at the police hockey grounds were eagerly waiting for the India-Pakistan match to start. But minutes before the fixture could begin, a police team swooped over the green cover and drove away cricket fans in Ghatkopar.


The cancellation of the screening of the match at Ghatkopar left many people dejected and disappointed

The police cancelled Jain Jagruti Samiti's application for public screening of the match and also imposed Section 37 of the Bombay Police Act, which restricts assembly of five or more people in a particular place, apparently to avoid any untoward incident prompted by the "passion provoking" semi-final.

u00a0Sunday MiD DAYu00a0 had reported on how cricket crazy members of Jain Jagruti Samiti (JJS) planned to convert the police hockey grounds, hitherto used for Navratri celebrations, into a venue to screen the semi-final. But at the last moment a cancellation order from the Police Commissioner's office ruined their plans.
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Ramesh Morbia, committee's secretary (North East), said, "We were quite confident of getting permission from the police, but the cancellation order came out of the blue. We were devastated. Moreover, we had ordered food for around 2,000 members. What do we do with that now?"u00a0

Hitesh Bhida, a member of the committee, said, "This is just not done. If they had to cancel the screening, why did they sit on our application for so long?

After the police ruined our plan, we requested fellow members to at least have food before going home. But nobody was in a mood to eat. Disappointed, they returned home saying they would watch the match at home."

M S Suryavanshi, senior inspector of Pant Nagar police station, said, "We have denied permission to screen after we received an order from the Mumbai police commissioner's office."