India: Police officer suspended over tricolour row during PAK vs AFG World Cup match

A sub-inspector of Tamil Nadu Police has been shunted out and a probe was initiated against him after he allegedly did not let spectators enter the Chennai cricket stadium with the Indian flag.

The move comes after a video went viral showing the police officer barring the entry of a few cricket fans to the MA Chidambaram Stadium ahead of the Pakistan-Afghanistan World Cup match on Monday (Oct 23).

Clip goes viral

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The clip purportedly showed a police officer retrieving two tri-colour flags from a dustbin, while the bystanders questioned who discarded them in the first place.

Sometime later, some people were heard alleging that the police officer was the one who dumped the flags and started questioning him. Facing heat, he then takes the flag to his police vehicle.

“Enquiry has been initiated against the SI concerned deployed for bandobust duty at MAC Stadium. He was recalled to Control Room. Appropriate action as per law will be taken based on the findings,” the city police said in a statement on X.

BJP slams DMK

The incident drew wide condemnation, with the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit president K Annamalai accusing the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of “stooping to an all-new low by banning” the Indian national flag inside the stadium.

“Mourning our country’s independence, burning parts of our Constitution, seeking a separate statehood, and issuing threats that the call for independent statehood is still alive has been DMK or its ideological party’s way of not wanting TN integrated with our country.”

“Though they've failed miserably in this misadventure, the DMK Govt today stooped to an all-new low by banning entry to our Country’s Tricolour inside the Chepauk stadium. They hate everything about this great nation, from Sanatana Dharma to our sovereignty and wish to remain a parrot of our coloniser,” he said.

But the police vehemently denied the accusations, asserting that it was an isolated incident.

“Apart from this solitary incident, no others reported. It is observed that many spectators are freely carrying and displaying the Indian tricolour inside the stadium,” the police statement said