CUTTACK: Tension sparked near the Barabati Stadium on Thursday as women jostled for space to buy tickets in special counters meant specially for them for the India-South Africa T20 scheduled on Sunday. Police resorted to mild lathi charge to control the crowd.
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) has made 12000 tickets available for the counter sale for Thursday and Friday. The state cricket body has set up nine counters near the Barabati Stadium to sell the tickets, out of that seven counters were for male and for the first time OCA has made two dedicated ticket counters for female fans.
There were heated arguments involving some women after a section of those standing in the queue complained that some others had jumped their turns. This led to scuffle and exchange of blows. The offline ticket counters opened from 9 am on Thursday, but people made a beeline to purchase tickets much before that.
Sabita Behera, a native of Cuttack who stood in a queue to buy ticket said, "I have been standing since 6 am with my aadhar card. However, some came after 9 am and jumped to queue."
Police said huge crowd had gathered near the counter and a few were seen breaking the queues, following which police tried to bring order. The process was streamlined within minutes, said Ajay Das, assistant commissioner of police (ACP).
One person can buy maximum two tickets by producing any of his/her identity proofs. A total of 5,000 tickets were sold online while 8,000 tickets were sold to clubs, schools and other organisations associated with the OCA.
