A group of match officials who have been employed on duty in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League (DPL) managed to escape with minor injuries as the car carrying them was attacked during a violent tussle with protesting garment workers and the police in the Savar industrial area. Match referees Debabrata Paul and Adil Ahmed, and umpires Shafiuddin, Tanvir Ahmed, Abdullah Al Motin, Imran Parvez, Barkatullah Turkey and Sohrab Hossain were present in the car and they were on their way to officiate in the DPL matches scheduled on Saturday, reported ESPNcricinfo.
The car carrying them was completely smashed and other vehicles in the tailback were also attacked.
As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, an eyewitness said that agitated workers attacked the cars that were held up in traffic. The officials then managed to escape with the help from local police and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) security personnel.
"The match officials showed great courage in the face of such an incident. They could start the matches at 9.30 am. The match officials had a police escort but four of them were facing thousands of people in that protest," said Kazi Inam Ahmed, the chairman of the cricket committee of Dhaka Metropolis.
In this season's DPL T20 tournament, four matches are being held in a single day at the BKSP, the country's biggest sports institute, which has two grounds.