Two crude bombs found near Bangalore cricket stadium (Second Lead)

BANGALORE - Two crude bombs were found close to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here Sunday, a day after two low intensity blasts there left 16 people injured.

One bomb was found near a bus stop close to Gate No 1, the main gate of the stadium, at around 9 a.m. and the other was hidden in a metal pole supporting an advertisement billboard outside the stadium, Bangalore city police commissioner Shankar Bidari told reporters.

Both the devices have been defused, he said.

Bidari said his men will now search the nearly 1,000 billboards around the stadium for any explosives.

“As a precautionary measure we will search all the billboards and also remove them. There are around 1,000 billboards in the area,” Bidari said.

He said no timer device was found with the two bombs discovered Sunday.

“We will complete checking all the billboards today,” Bidari said.

Huge billboards surround the 40,000-capacity stadium in view of the crowds gathering there for the IPL matches.

The stadium is located in the centre of the city and has the popular shopping area M.G. Road on one side and Cubbon Road on the other.

Its main gate, near which a bomb was found Sunday morning, faces Cubbon Park which attracts hundreds of people every day, apart from the regular morning/evening walkers, making it a strategic location to advertise.

The two blasts Saturday evening had delayed the start of the Royal Challengers Bangalore-Mumbai Indian tie by an hour.

The police are sanitising the stadium area as both the semi-finals of the IPL are to be played there April 21 and 22.

One of the blasts Saturday took place at Gate No 12, in which 16 people, including four policemen, received minor injuries while a security volunteer suffered head injuries. He is being treated at Mallya Hospital, about two km away, from the stadium.

The second blast was at Anil Kumble circle, less than half a kilometre from the stadium. None was injured.

An explosive was found later in the stadium even as the IPL match was on and defused. Timer devices were attached to the three bombs.