Bengaluru: As India and Australia gear up for the second Test at the Chinnaswamy stadium, security threats have continued.
The news that an explosive-laden vehicle entered the city spread like wild fire, and led to a clash between two different security divisions.
The alert was given out by the Electronics City Industries Association’s (ECLIA) security, which is responsible for security maintenance of the Electornic City, which has about 350 Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel who keep a round-the-clock vigil. It claimed its observation were based on intelligence reports.
The ECLIA had put out the alert a day before the Ayodhya verdict, but it had nothing to do with the cricket series.
However the Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari, was quick to deny the report. He hit out at the ELCIA, saying it was simply a false alarm and questioned why the information was not passed on to him. In the first place. He confirmed that whenever major events are held in the city, security is tightened, especially when there is a Test match.
This is not the first time there has been such a threat during an important cricket match. A small explosion during the third edition of the Indian Premier League match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians injured eight people.
Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland questioned the city police’s ability to provide security for the Test match, adding that there were safety concerns even before the Test match began.
Sutherland was convinced only after N. Srinivasan, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, provided him with details of the security arrangements at the venue.
