Bangalore Mirror spoke to Acharya on the event and the subsequent shifting of the semifinal matches to Mumbai. Excerpts from the interaction:
Q: Despite an assurance from the state government that there will be no threat to cricket matches in Bangalore, the venue has been sifted to Mumbai. Why did the organisers lose faith in you?
Acharya: We told the organisers that all arrangements would be made to ensure the safety of the stadium and it would be under our control. Despite our assurances, they shifted the venue. There could be different reasons for this —I don’t want to comment on them. They are the managers and they have every right to change the venue. We did our best to convince them.
Did the state government receive any intelligence inputs about the bomb blasts earlier?
We did not receive any information from the Centre.
Why didn’t the police foresee the threat?
There is no security lapseon our part.
But bombs were recovered even a day after the Mumbai Indians versus Royal Challengers-Bangalore (RCB) clash...
We managed to comb the area within a few minutes after the explosions and ensured that no untoward incidents took place inside the stadium.
What could be the motive behind the blasts? What is the message that the terror elements are trying to send?
Someone wanted to postpone the match and they had placed objectionable materials in an attempt to change the match schedule but we foiled their plans. It could have been planted in the morning hours. Nothing has happened inside the stadium.
Have you zeroed in on any specific terrorist group?
We are investigating the matter. Whoever is behind the act will be punished.
2 comments:
What a sad comment from Home Minister - Bomb didn't exploded and nothing happened inside the stadium? Its luck of Bangaloreans that Bomb didn't exploded not because of job done by our police force. And to further add salt, Bomb was found after 24 hours just outside the stadium! what a police force we have...who cannot even sanitize 1 Km radius outside the stadium.
Sanitize 1 KM radius, Get More gadgets, have this have that...yes, we all become intelligence experts/ security advisors minute an event of this nature takes place...
But how many of us really cooperate with the Police? If they perform security checks, we say we are being harassed...if the police arrest suspects, hell breaks loose, thanks to the self styled Human Rights activits and the "sickular" media! In the case of Bangalore stadium, KSCA had even prevented Police from entering particular areas of the stadium!
No amount of Policing or Gadgetry would help as long as the self declared intellectuals/human rights activists support meaningless "Naxal" or "Jihad" mindset.
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