Two low intensity blasts, one at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and another nearby, ahead of an Indian Premier League tie Saturday left 10 people injured, including one seriously. A third explosive found at the stadium later was defused, police said.
The blasts, just ahead of the Mumbai Indians-Royal Challengers Bangalore tie, sent Bangalore police into a tizzy as both the semi-finals of the premier league T20 are scheduled to be played at the Chinnaswamy stadium on April 21 and April 22.
With over 40,000 fans expected to throng the stadium for the semi-finals, like they did Saturday to watch the RCB-MI tie, police said they would intensify efforts to sanitize the venue and surrounding areas.
The third explosive device was found three hours after the blasts in a plastic bag near Gate No 8 when police and their dog squad began searching the area, a police spokesperson told reporters.
The first blast was at Anil Kumble Circle, less than half-a-kilometre from the stadium. No one was hurt in the explosion. The second one took place at around 3.15 p.m., 45 minutes before the scheduled start of the match, at Gate no 12. The blast caused minor damage to the outer wall of the stadium.
Of the ten injured, four are policemen, one a security volunteer and the rest spectators waiting at Gate No 12.
When the blast near the stadium gate took place, thousands of spectators were already inside the stadium.
Soon after the blast, police closed all the gates to the stadium.
Players of both the teams were asked to return to their dressing rooms till police gave the go ahead for the match, which began at 5 p.m. after an hour's delay.
It was good to see that 40,000 capacity did not show any signs of being affected by the explosions as fans roared when the two captains, Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar, came out for the toss which the former won and elected for the Royal Challengers Bangalore to bowl.
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