New Delhi, Aug 8:-
In the wake of Intelligence Bureau's (IB) alert on possible terror strike by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Union Home Minister, Mr P Chidambaram, on Saturday stated that the World Badminton Championships scheduled to be held in Hyderabad from Monday would be held under tight security blanket.
Talking to media persons after reviewing the stock of security scenario in the country, the Home Minister said that the IB informed to the state police that terror elements would attempt to strike at international players as they did against Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan recently.
He said that the security around the venue has been beefed up by deploying special teams with metal detectors and sniffer dogs at various points. Round-the-clock armed escort has been provided to all the players participating in the tournament, he added.
He said the sleuths of IB visit the stadium as well as the badminton academy being run by player-turned-coach Pullela Gopichand at Gachchibowli to take stock of the situation.
Over 200 players from all over the world are expected to participate in the event to be held at GMC Balayogi Stadium from August 10 to 16.