February 14, 2006	Tuesday	Muharram 15, 1427

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LAHORE, Feb 13: With geniune ticket holders waiting in queues to get in, those manning the gates, especially police and rangers, managed to get their people inside the Qadhafi Stadium on Monday.

Rangers and police at Gate 1 (Fazal Mahmood enclosure) were found letting their relatives and friends in with dozens of people, a majority of them Indians, still waiting in a long queue.

At one point PCB gate staff punching tickets did protest but could not do anything to stop the men in uniform. A Rangers official, was stopped by a ticket checker from letting five boys in.

But the official sought police support and managed to get them in at 11.30am.

The scene was watched by dozens of locals and Indians who had lined up before the start of the game.

Inside the enclosure, staff were seen helping ticket holders get their seats when the entire stand had filled to capacity.

But there was nobody to answer for the irregularity.

After an hour and a half the enclosure’s stairs were also occupied by late comers but more people with tickets in their hands were still entering. Blackmarketing of tickets was also reported.