Stadium sting operation by Australian TV bogus: Police

NEW DELHI - Delhi Police Wednesday said the sting operation by an Australian TV channel wherein its reporter walked into the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium reportedly with explosives was “bogus and incorrect” and “deliberately planted”.

“This sting operation is totally bogus and incorrect. The reporter is trying to create a false impression of security breach by walking past barricades that have been placed on the main road only to divert vehicles,” Delhi Police said in an official statement.

“That place is far off from the main entry gate of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from where the actual manual checking of pedestrians is done. The reporter had not reached up to the checking point,” it said.

The stadium is the main venue for the Oct 3-14 Games. An Australian TV news crew Tuesday said it was able to walk in carrying a large trolley suitcase having explosives capable of triggering up to 200 explosions if fitted with a detonator.

The news crew said they were easily able to obtain a detonator and ammonium nitrate from the capital, adding to a slew of allegations that preparations for the mega event had not been up to the mark.

But Delhi Police called the sting operation motivated and said: “It was deliberately planted as the reporter does not even know that ammonium nitrate is a fertilizer and a non-prohibited item for sale in India.”

“There is no lock down in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium security as yet. Security will be bolstered with additional deployment after the complete lock down and substantially more during Games time,” it said.