Army drops plan to screen match

In Srinagar,shutters of shops started to roll down in the afternoon and traffic started to go off the roads. The security forces,however,set up screens inside their camps for their personnel to watch the match .

Sources said soon after the Armys plan to erect large screens for the match became public,senior police officers requested it to abandon its progamme. We have serious concern that the subversive elements would use the aroused passions to trigger a clash between the fans and the security forces, a senior police officer told The Indian Express. We are very cautious and dont want a law and order situation.

The Government had already banned public screening of the semifinal planned by civilians across the valley.

Defying the police orders,however,a group of youth set up a television set at Maisuma,a volatile separatist stronghold,and within minutes a large number of people gathered and started to burst crackers with the fall of every wicket. Sensing trouble,the police swung into action and forced the youth to remove the television.