MUMBAI, Jan 18: A concerned Union Home Minister L K Advani has instructed State Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde to provide adequate security to all members of the Indian cricket team, both personal security as well as at their residences; also to former cricketers and BCCI officials who may be targeted by the Sena. He also instructed Munde to deal with such (ransacking BCCI office) incidents with ``an iron hand''.

The move follows an important meeting that Advani had with BJP Ministers and MLAs wherein they indicated their disapproval of alliance partner Shiv Sena's strong-arm and street-level tactics to tackle key issues. The meeting took place at Hotel Centaur minutes before Advani boarded his flight back to New Delhi.

Significantly, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee also spoke to Chief Minister Manohar Joshi on phone to express his displeasure over the incident.

The nearly 30-member BJP delegation that met Advani apparently talked of theembarrassment the party had to put up with on account of its alliance with the Sena. ``People spoke about whatever was on their minds and they spoke freely on the alliance issue...almost everybody had something to say,'' informed a senior leader. Incidentally, Minister of State for Railways Ram Naik too was present at the meeting.

Advani reportedly heard everyone out but did not offer comments, much less any commitments, immediately. However, he instructed Munde to provide personal security to all the Indian cricketers.

In a late night development, both parties have decided to thrash out the issue at a coordination committee meeting on January 24.

Although the Sena has denied involvement of party workers in the ransacking incident, the occurrence is being seen as a major setback for the alliance government, particularly for the BJP. Though Vajpayee had conferred with Sena chief Bal Thackeray last week on the issue of allowing the Indo-Pak tour to go ahead without disruptions, the Sena seemed to havehardened its position.

Talking to newsmen at Jehangir Art Gallery, where his exhibition of wildlife photographs concluded today, Uddhav Thackeray said he did not have details of the incident but police officials had informed him that the attackers were not Sena workers. ``The police told me that it was not the work of the Shiv Sena. The office has been damaged to defame Shiv Sena,'' Thackeray said.

Chief Minister Joshi, who is also the vice-president of the BCCI, declined to comment, saying, it will be improper to make a comment on the basis of incorrect and incomplete information, while Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, who is also incharge of the home portfolio, said they will be dealt with sternly. ``Even the Centre has taken serious note of the incident,'' Munde remarked.