Two blasts before Bangalore IPL match, five injured (Second Lead)

BANGALORE - Two low-intensity explosions, one at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and another half-a-kilometre away, before the start of an Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians Saturday injured five people and caused panic among the spectators.

Explosives placed near the outer wall of the stadium went off at around 3.15 p.m., 45 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the match, which was delayed by an hour. Four policemen and a private security guard were injured, Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari told reporters at the stadium.

“It appears an explosive was planted near gate no 12 behind a plastic billboard. Four policemen suffered minor injuries while a security guard was seriously hurt,” Bidari said.

“It was not a powerful explosive. Forensic experts will examine the site and determined the nature of the explosive,” he said.

Another explosion took place at around 3 p.m. near Anil Kumble Circle, less than half-a-kilometre from the stadium, Deputy Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar told IANS. No one was hurt in the explosion.

The explosives appeared to have been kept in a bush, Alok Kumar said.

There was utter confusion at gate no 12B of the stadium as the explosion caused a loud noise and hundreds of fans waiting to enter the stadium ran helter and skelter.

Sirens of police vans and ambulances only added to the panic. At first it was thought that a overheated generator had exploded. Forensic experts visited the two places to examine the nature of explosives.

When the explosion 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 and were a harried lot, answering questions from the increasingly restless fans on the reasons for not allowing them in.

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., an hour’s delay.

“The match will go on. There is no need for panic. I appeal to all fans to subject to security checks, cooperate with the police and enjoy the game,” Bidari said.

Alok Kumar said police have no clue about who placed the explosive in the two places.

The nearly full stadium of 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.

Both teams have already made it to the semifinals of the IPL.