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Cricket Players Ousted From Tournament Attack Competitors, Sources Say

By Katie Honan | October 30, 2014 7:28am
  Three men were arrested and charged in connection to a Oct. 26 attack in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
Three men were arrested and charged in connection to a Oct. 26 attack in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
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DNAinfo/Danielle Tcholakian

CORONA — This was no gentleman's game.

Three men kicked out of a cricket tournament in Flushing-Meadows Corona Park last weekend flew into a rage, attacking the remaining players with cricket bats, cricket stumps and hammers, according to a police source and prosecutors.

Ansanur Rahman, 28, Suhal Uddin, 32, and Faheed Matin, 26, got into an argument with other cricket players at the park fields by Meadow Lake some time before 2:30 p.m. Saturday after their team got eliminated from a tournament, according to a police source.

The trio — accompanied by a group of players who remain at large — started to battle with the remaining players, beating them with cricket bats, hammers and cricket stumps three wooden posts that form the wicket, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.

The ousted players beat a 28-year-old man unconscious, hitting him in the back of the head with a bat until he fell to the ground, then hitting him again with the cricket stumps, according to the DA's office.

The attackers also stabbed the 28-year-old victim in the chest, back and cheek with an unknown object, according to the criminal complaint. The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to a local hospital and received stitches, according to the criminal complaint.

Another victim was hit with a hammer and bats and was slashed, police said. He also briefly lost consciousness during the melee and was treated at a local hospital.

Both men have since been released from the hospital, according to a police source.

The incident was first reported in the blog "A Walk in the Park."

Rahman, Uddin, and Matin were charged with gang assault, criminal possession of a weapon and assault. Rahman and Matin were released on $5,000 cash bail while Uddin was released on $10,000 cash bail, according to court records. They are due back in Queens criminal court on Nov. 10.

Uddin's lawyer denied that his client was an ousted player at the tournament, saying he only attended as a spectator. 

The lawyer added that Uddin even called 911 when he saw the bleeding victims.

"They are alleging he had a cricket bat, which he couldn't have had. It was not recovered on him," said lawyer Alex Grosshtern.

"He stayed for the cops to arrive, and to his dismay he's cuffed up."

A release from the Queens DA's office in 2003 stated Uddin was charged as a youthful offender for a 2001 attack on Bangladeshi Independence Day, but Grosshtern said his client is now a livery cab driver who tried to help after Saturday's attack. 

Calls to the other defendants' lawyers were not immediately returned.

The Parks Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.