Delhi police promise ‘foolproof’ security for hockey World Cup
New Delhi: Police have promised “foolproof” security for the men’s hockey World Cup after a bomb blast last weekend raised safety concerns for visiting teams.
Abhinav Bindra threatens to quit the game “We are making foolproof arrangements for the event. We are not leaving anything to chance,” Rajan Bhagat, a Delhi police spokesman, told Reuters on Wednesday.
Eleven people, including two foreigners, were killed and 60 wounded in a bomb attack in Pune on Saturday.
New Delhi is hosting the 12-team hockey World Cup from February 28 to March 13 and is gearing up for the Commonwealth Games in October.
“We wanted extra force from the government and we have got it,” Delhi police commissioner YS Dadwal told reporters.
Home secretary GK Pillai told reporters he was in touch with officials who were involved in strengthening security.
“They are quite satisfied with the preparation in place,” Pillai told reporters.
Pakistan Hockey Ffederation (PHF) is sending two officials to India to look at security arrangements for its team before the World Cup.
“The purpose of the visit is to ensure that our players face no security issues in India and can focus on the World Cup,” PHF secretary, Asif Bajwa told reporters in Pakistan on Wednesday.
The Pune bombing was the first major militant strike in the country since the Mumbai attacks in November 2008 that killed 166 people and which were blamed on the Pakistan-based separatist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).