Bangladesh cricket team doesn’t visit Gwalior mosque, holds Friday prayer at hotel

Gwalior: Ahead of its T20 clash with India in Gwalior, the Bangladesh cricket squad did not visit the city’s Moti Masjid on Friday and instead, offered prayers at their hotel, a police official said on Saturday.

“We had made elaborate security arrangements around Moti Masjid but the Bangladesh team did not turn up. No organisation had given any call to disrupt their visit,” Gwalior Zone Inspector General Arvind Saxena told PTI over the phone.

The mosque in the city’s Phoolbagh area is about 3 km from the hotel where the visitors have been put up.

Security has been stepped up in the city amid a call for a ‘Gwalior bandh’ on match day by right-wing outfits in protest against alleged atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government there in August.

“The decision to skip the mosque visit might have been taken at the team's management level,” he said.

The official confirmed that the ‘Shahar Qazi’ (city’s top Muslim cleric) reached the hotel and led the Bangladeshi cricketers in offering ‘Namaz-e-Juma’ (Friday prayer) between 1 pm and 2.30 pm.

The official said they had made elaborate security arrangements outside the mosque where several mediapersons were also waiting.

The distance between the hotel and the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, where the Bangladesh team has been practising since October 3, is about 23 km and the players are moving freely as per their schedule amid security cover.

“Providing security to the visiting team over just 3 km was never an issue from our side,” the official said.

Already, over 2,500 police personnel have been deployed for Sunday's India-Bangladesh T20I in Gwalior, he said.

On Sunday, cops will be on the streets from 2 pm. They will be on duty till spectators reach home after the game is over, police said.

After prohibitory orders were invoked two days ago, police are also keeping an eye on social media for inflammatory material, officials said.