M A I N   N E W S

Another bomb found, IPL semis moved to Mumbai
Shubhadeep Choudhury/ TNS

Bangalore, April 18
Explosives continued to pop up in Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium with one more bomb and three bags full of ammonium nitrate found by the police from the stadium area today.

Despite assurances from city police commissioner Shankar Bidari, the terrified IPL authorities today decided to shift the venue of the two semifinals from Bangalore to Mumbai. The semifinals, which were to be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 21 and 22, would now take place at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on the same dates.

Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) secretary and former Indian cricketer Brijesh Patel discussed the security situation with Shankar Bidari in the morning. The meeting raised hope that the venue of the semifinals might not be changed.

However, announcing the decision to shift the semifinals to Mumbai, Lalit Modi, IPL chairman and commissioner, said, “While reluctant to relocate the semifinals at such a short notice, yesterday’s incidents have made it clear that the current environment in Bangalore prevents us from continuing with our original plans. The incidents were assessed by the local police and the IPL’s security agency as being of minor nature, but they have forced our hand. The decision is naturally disappointing for the people of Bangalore, but it has been taken with the tournament’s best interests and the interests of its many varied stakeholders, in mind.”

Seven matches of IPL-2010 had earlier taken place at the Bangalore stadium. These included the one played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium yesterday shortly after a bomb exploded on the stadium premises and another went off in an area close to the stadium. Another bomb was found and defused by the police. The first bomb went off around 3.15 pm at gate number 12 shortly before the match between Mumbai Indians and Bangalore Royal Challengers was to start. It resulted in injuries to 17 persons, including four policemen and a security guard of a private agency.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers, shaken by the blasts, were apparently hesitant to participate in the match and needed persuasion by team owner Vijay Mallya to take to the field. No such doubt had arisen in the mind of Mumbai captain Sachin Tendulkar, who wanted to go ahead with the game.

As the search by the police led to recovery of more explosives today, it showed that fear expressed by a section of the players yesterday was not entirely unfounded.

Fortunately, the bombs planted by the miscreants were crude ones. Moreover, the timers attached to the bombs malfunctioned. Had the timers worked properly, it would have resulted into a stampede there.

Three bags of ammonium nitrate found by the police today were found hidden behind a hoarding. This prompted the police to rip open similar hoardings put up in the stadium. The bomb found today was placed at a bus stop near the stadium.

Shankar Bidari said search of the stadium and its surrounding areas was on and the operation could well spill over to tomorrow. On the issue of nabbing the culprits, Bidari said an announcement on the progress of the investigation would be made anytime between Monday and Wednesday.