Hindu group threatens to disrupt Pakistan matches

A right-wing Hindu group has threatened to prevent Pakistan from playing in India in the Champions Trophy scheduled to start this week, officials have announced. The Shiv Sena, which has a powerful presence in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, said the step was to protest against the bombings of trains in the state's capital Mumbai in July that killed 186 people.

"How can they allow Pakistan to play matches in our country when the Mumbai police have evidence of its [Pakistan's] involvement in the July 11 terror attack?" Udhav Thackeray , the Shiv Sena's executive president, said in comments published Wednesday.

Last weekend, Mumbai police chief AN Roy publicly accused Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of orchestrating the attacks on trains that left 800 people wounded.

Thackeray did not elaborate on the Shiv Sena's plans to obstruct the Champions Trophy's Mumbai fixtures, which also includes the final on November 5.

Pakistan will fly to Mumbai only if they reach the final. Two of their three league matches are in the northern city of Mohali and the third in Jaipur. The semi-finals will be held in Mohali and Jaipur.

Maharashtra authorities said they would not allow any disruptions if Pakistan reach the final. "Right now it is a hypothetical question but we are duty-bound to maintain law and order in the state," Home Secretary AP Sinha, who handle's the state's internal security, told AFP. "We have the warning but I will not issue comments on the remarks of a political leader."

A senior official in India's home ministry added that the Shiv Sena's threat has been passed on to Jaipur and Mohali: "Stadiums in these cities will be sanitised and extra security will be provided in view of this development".

The Shiv Sena had dug up the pitch in New Delhi's Feroze Shah Kotla ground in 1999, eight years after damaging the ground of Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium to protest the Pakistani cricket team's presence in India.