THIS TIME no free security cover for IPL matches in Himachal!

Dharamsala, March 23, 2013: Now the time has gone when HPCA and the Kings XI Punjab will use the security facilities in the Dharamsala leg of the Matches in the IPL shows. The state government will not provide it free of cost.

The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Vir Bhadra Singh at Kangra, near here, on Saturday, while speaking to the media said, “The match organisers would have to foot the security bill. The government would charge for providing security to any event which is commercial. The HPCA is also a commercial organisation, so it would be charged accordingly.”

He said that every state is charging this fee and the role of the police is to maintain law and order and not to work for the business tycoons. He added that this time they should abide by law.

The HPCA is headed by Anurag Thakur, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and son of former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, that’s why it enjoyed the exemption, said one of the top congress leader. He said that  during the past seven IPL matches in last three seasons, the state government headed by Dhumal had not charged HPCA a single penny for the untiring work of the Himachal Pradesh Police. Dharamsala is the second home ground of IPL team Kings XI of Punjab.

One  RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya, informed that  Rs.2.36 crore was incurred by the state police on providing security for the five IPL matches held in Dharamsala during the first two IPL seasons in 2010 and 2011. He said that the government should also collect this pending money.