The Daily Star carries daily news and opinion from Bangladesh and around the world.

Crazy indeed!

By Our Staff Correspondent
25 October 1998



A cricket crazy high official of T&T department's Motijheel exchange allegedly disconnected five telephone lines of the Federation Branch of IFIC bank after he was refused ÒVIP galleryÓ tickets for the mini world cup.

According to IFIC bank sources, the telephone lines remained disconnected from Thursday noon following a row between some officials of the bank and the T&T official.

T&T authorities however refuted the allegation saying that disconnection of the lines and the row between the bank officials and the T&T official was co-incidental.

The IFIC bank's Federation Branch sold tickets for the mini world cup. During sale of tickets late last week, there were demonstrations, processions and scuffles by angry cricket fans who could not buy any ticket.

The pressure of sale of tickets was so high in the IFIC bank that officials there worked beyond midnight on Wednesday and Thursday and attended office on Friday and Saturday.

After the regular sale hours till 2.30 pm, officials and employees of government and private organisations went to the IFIC Federation Branch and demanded tickets.The bank officials had to swallow bitter words from the cricket fans some of whom accused them of keeping tickets with themselves.

IFIC sources claimed that police did not cooperate with the bank authorities in managing the crowd outside the bank as some police officials were not given tickets.

The situation reached a stage that IFIC officials started charging each other for "misappropriating" tickets, the sources said.

During the row between the T&T official and the bank employees, the T&T official insisted on getting VIP gallery tickets but was refused on the ground that such tickets were given as per pre-determined quota. The T&T official then became angry and immediately afterwards, the telephone lines were disconnected, the sources claimed.


Source: The Daily Star, Bangladesh
Editorial comments can be sent to The Daily Star at webmaster@dailystarnews.com
help@cricinfo.com