Some of those desperate for tickets for the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony claimed on Sunday that touts were selling tickets clandestinely outside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and at five times the price. Ticket counters for the Games remained closed on Sunday ahead of the extravaganza. However, Games officials denied knowledge of any presence of touts.
Jaswinder Singh, an official of an insurance company, who had arrived from Punjab to attend the opening ceremony, said he had no option but to buy a ticket from a tout. He said that he had reached the stadium in the morning but could get a ticket for the opening ceremony only at 5 pm and that too at a price five times the actual amount.
“It was mentioned in the website that one can get current tickets for the opening ceremony on the D-day. So I reached here at 9 am but I could not get a ticket as all the ticket windows were closed. So I thought of buying a ticket worth Rs 1,000 for Rs 5,000 and could get it only at 5 pm,” Mr Singh said.
However, Games officials said that the tickets for the opening ceremony were already sold out and that just a few were left for the closing ceremony on October 14. The cheapest ticket for the opening ceremony were officially priced at Rs 1,000 and the costliest one at Rs 50,000.
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Foreign official detained with arm, released
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
Oct. 3: Avoiding a security breach, security officials detained an official attached to an international team at the entrance of a five star hotel in the capital on Sunday after a firearm was recovered from him during security check. The official, however, was let off later.
“A small firearm was recovered from a person who was part of the security staff attached to a foreign team. He was carrying a diplomatic pass and was not authorised to carry any arms,” Union home secretary G.K. Pillai said. He said the weapon was recovered from the person during the security check as he was about to enter the Ashoka Hotel where a number of foreign officials are staying. “People from other countries who were present there were very happy with the security personnel over detection of the gun,” Mr Pillai said.