Betting lobby behind April 17 Bangalore blasts: Home minister
By IANSFriday, April 30, 2010
BANGALORE - Underworld elements and the betting lobby were behind the April 17 twin blasts in Bangalore ahead of an Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Karnataka Home Minister V.S. Acharya said Friday.
The blasts near the M. Chinnaswamy cricket stadium left 16 people injured and delayed the start of the Royal Challengers Bangalore-Mumbai India tie by an hour.
Next day two more explosive devices were found near the stadium leading to shifting of the April 21 and 22 semi-finals to Navi Mumbai.
“The underworld normally has links with the betting lobby. Some elements wanted to scare away people and shift the two IPL semi-finals from the city to Mumbai,” Acharya told reporters here.
On the day of the blast itself, Acharya had said he suspected the hand of the betting lobby as it wanted the semi finals to be played in Mumbai. He has been maintaining this stance.
Bangalore police have declined to make public what they have so far gathered from their investigation. Both state Director General of Police Ajay Kumar Singh, and Bangalore city Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari cited a recent Supreme Court observation against investigating agencies making public details of the probe.
Acharya too declined to talk on the probe’s progress. “Investigation is on. Details cannot be divulged,” he said.
