Jammu and Kashmir cricketer Parvez Rasool's kit-bag has been cleared by the Forensic Science Laboratory. The bag was suspected to have traces of explosives present in it and Rasool was taken into police custody for interrogation soon after the bag was seized on October 17, before a Champions League T20 clash in Bangalore's Chinnaswamy stadium.

The FSL report stated,"the equipment used to detect the explosives was loaded with C-4 smart card, which enables detecting plastic explosives, including RDX. But repeated experiments carried out at FSL did not find any exlposives, or traces of any kind of explosive material, in it."

Pervez Rasool and Mehraj-ud-Din, were taken into custody after leading to the rescheduling of the first Champions League T20 match between Cape Cobras and Victorian Bushrangers. Both the cricketers were released a day after their arrest, once they were questioned by the Karnataka police.

The incident caused strong resentment among sport lovers here as well as Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association which demanded an apology from Bangalore Police for "harassing" the young cricketers.

J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in his reaction to the arrests, had stated that the cricketers had been made a scape goat.

Other Senior leaders of Kashmir like People's Demopcratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti said, "They should have been given equal treatment as other boys. It's not just about this, it's about the whole Kashmir problem. It's an emotional - mental and physical - alienation, and these things add salt to the wounds of Kashmiris."

Meanwhile, Farooq Abdullah,president of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), had demanded a probe into the whole affair.

Source: Agencies/India Syndicate