Angry fans attack Dhoni's house

Ranchi: They can take the criticism but can they take this? In a shameful incident, India's wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni's under construction house in Ranchi was attacked by a mob on Sunday morning after India's loss to Bangladesh in their opening match of the World Cup.

Around 20-25 Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's youth wing activists held protests in front of Dhoni's property in Ranchi.

The mob demolished the boundary wall of the property and also burnt an effigy of the cricketer. The JMM youth wing leaders also demanded that Dhoni give back the land gifted to him by the Jharkhand government.

Dismissing the protest as a stray incident, Superintendent of Police (city) Richard Lakra said some people just shoved some bricks that were kept at the site for building the house.

"The house under construction is complete upto the plinth level," he said, adding that police were keeping a watch near the site and at Dhoni's house at Mecon.

After the shocking incident, former Bihar Ranji Trophy skipper K V P Rao said cricket was after all a game.

"Real fans should support the team now, as it was only the first match and Team India has a good chance to advance in the World Cup," Rao told PTI.

Another former international, Randhir Singh, observed that fans anywhere have high expectations from their favourite teams and like to watch them win.

Saroj Kumar, a die-hard Dhoni fan, said the handful of people who joined the protest only wanted "cheap publicity".

Irked fans torched effigies of Indian cricketers in Ahmedabad, Jalandhar and Kanpur, too, with fans in Kanpur demanding the inclusion of discarded UP player Mohammad Kaif in the team.

Burning effigies of captain Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and even Sachin Tendulkar, the protestors shouted slogans against the team.

(With inputs from PTI)

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