Police left us like sitting ducks, says referee
- The Guardian, Thursday 5 March 2009
- Article history
Chris Broad, the ex-England batsman turned match referee who escaped injury in Tuesday's attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers, castigated Pakistan yesterday for not providing the promised "presidential-style security" and accused the security services of fleeing the scene and leaving the visitors as "sitting ducks".
As Pakistani police began investigating whether the gunmen were planning to take the whole squad hostage, Broad arrived at Manchester airport with scathing remarks about the way Pakistani police had handled the attack.
"After the incident there was not a sign of a policeman anywhere," said Broad. "They had clearly gone, left the scene and left us to be sitting ducks. I am extremely angry that we were promised high-level security and in our hour of need that security vanished and we were left open to anything that the terrorists wanted.
"Questions need to be asked of Pakistan security. At every junction there are police with handguns controlling traffic, so how did the terrorists come to the roundabout and these guys do nothing about it?"
Sri Lanka's team captain, Mahela Jayawardene, appeared to side with Broad, saying that the gunmen fought a one-sided battle. "They were not under pressure ... nobody was firing at them," he said.
But Pakistani officials were aghast at the suggestion. Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan cricket board chief, said: "How can Chris Broad say this when six policemen were killed?"
The assailants were carrying enough arms, ammunition, food and medical supplies to hold out for a prolonged period, perhaps several days. Pakistani police believe they could have been planning to board the bus and then put on the suicide vests that some were carrying, which would have enabled them to hold the entire team captive.
It may just have been the quick wits of the driver, who managed to speed the bus away, that averted a dramatic hostage situation. "From the inventory we have recovered, it seems they did not just mean to ambush the cavalcade," said Mushtaq Sukhera, the head of the investigations department of the Lahore police force, in an interview with the Guardian. "It all suggests that they had planned something else, otherwise why were they carrying all these things?"
Sukhera would not speculate on the hostage plan, but other police officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said taking the bus seemed the most likely.
A huge quantity of firearms, grenades and other equipment was recovered from rucksacks dumped by the attackers, and from an abandoned car. There were also rocket-propelled grenade launchers, meaning that the terrorists were at least as heavily armed as the men who attacked Mumbai for three days in November.
The assailants carried significant quantities of food, bandages and antiseptic liquid. Each of the gunmen wore a bulky rucksack. Sukhera said each rucksack contained half a kilo of almonds, half a kilo of dried fruit, biscuits and water bottles, enough to keep them going for days.
Police yesterday made sweeping arrests, detaining some 50 people, though reports suggested none were the gunmen involved and they had only vague connections to the incident.
Sketches of four of the attackers were issued by the police. CCTV footage emerged showing how calmly the gunmen left the scene. The images showed the terrorists strolling through a nearby market after the attack, machine guns still in hand. The authorities for the first time admitted security lapses yesterday. The top official in the Lahore administration, Khusro Pervaiz, said the "security gaps are very vivid, very clear". He said the outer cordon of the Sri Lankan team's police escort was missing or did not respond. He also said the vehicles being used by the escort were inappropriate.
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