Inquiry report into March 3 attack on Sri Lankan cricket team:

[Naveed Yaseen]

Tribunal directs PCB to set up security wing
* Tribunal holds PCB responsible for not fulfilling its duty of reviewing the security measures, giving feedback

By Rana Tanveer

LAHORE: An inquiry tribunal of the Lahore High Court (LHC) that was constituted to probe the 3/3 terrorist attacks at Liberty has instructed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to set up its own security wing to ensure the safety of visiting cricketers.

The tribunal, consisting of Justice Shabbar Raza Rizvi, recommended that PCB should hire committed security officers for its security wing. He said the wing should be assigned the duty of ensuring security of the PCB as well as cricketers, be they local or foreign. He said the board must also follow the security instructions issued by the government. The recommendations were issued after the failure of local law enforcement agencies in ensuring the security of the Sri Lankan cricket team on March 3.

PCB at fault: The tribunal said according to the details of the security plan devised for the Sri Lankan cricket team, all deployment arrangements made by the district police and administration were to be reviewed by the PCB and feedback was to be conveyed to the Home Department for onward transmission to the chief minister. The tribunal held that the board never reviewed the security arrangements or give any feedback.

The tribunal said after vowing to make foolproof security arrangements for the Sri Lankan cricket team, which convinced them to visit Pakistan, the board left all security arrangements at the disposal of the federal and provincial government. It said the home secretary of the inspector general of police would not be held responsible in the international community, adding the PCB would have to face the consequence, as it had damaged its international reputation.

The tribunal held that it was not just the PCB that requested the Sri Lankan cricket team to visit Pakistan, but the government also requested the Sri Lankan government to allow the team to visit the country and assured them of foolproof security arrangements during their stay.

PCB Cricket Operations Director Zakir Khan told the tribunal strenuous efforts were made by the Pakistan acting high commissioner to Sri Lanka and the foreign office to convince the Sri Lankan team to visit the country. He said various government and non-government bodies promised the highest level of security for the team and all of them unanimously failed in fulfilling their promises.

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