Two suspects involved in the terror attacks on Sri Lankan players released

Two suspects involved in the attacks on Sri Lankan cricketers back on 3 March 2009 were released today (23 June). It has been over 8 years since these diabolical events took place and till this date, the Pakistani government has failed to get hold of any conclusive pieces of evidence which confirm their participation in these attacks.

The Pakistani court released Raheem Kaleel and Obaidulla today after it was confirmed that there were no proofs against them. They were taken into custody for allegedly supplying armours and training their attackers. 7 Sri Lankan cricketers were injured in these attacks whilst they were travelling to the Gaddafi Stadium in their team bus.

Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Tharanga Paranavithana, Ajanta Mendis, Chaminda Vaas, Suranga Lakmal and their skipper Mahela Jayawardene sustained minor injuries and thankfully, there were no casualties. This was a huge setback for Pakistan cricket, who were not allowed to host any International games since.

Most petrifying incident in cricket history

These were without a shadow of a doubt, the most petrifying times in cricket history. Not just the Sri Lankan cricketers, but the entire sporting fraternity’s eyes were on the developments in Pakistan. Safety of touring cricket teams was always doubted in Pakistan after a suicide bomb attack in 2002 outside the hotel where the New Zealand cricketers were staying.

Many countries kept refusing to enter Pakistan the likes of Australia and South Africa though they gave full commitment to ICC that they will provide President-like security to their visiting nation cricketers. India had pulled off from a bilateral series which was scheduled in March 2009 keeping in mind the terror attacks in Mumbai. Sri Lanka replaced India and toured Pakistan and the rest, as they say, is history.

2 gunmen were hiding near Liberty Square, in the centre of Lahore, waiting for the Sri Lankan team to pass on their way to the Gaddafi stadium. When the bus came closer, they started firing targeting the players on the bus but no significant harm was caused to the cricketers. But this led to the death of six policemen guarding the Lankan side and two other civilians.

The Sri Lankan players were immediately rushed to the stadium and were taken to Sri Lanka in a helicopter which received and airlifted them from the stadium. It took a lot of time for the Lankan players to get out of this paranoia for obvious reasons but they came back strongly and proved their mettle.