Foul play, says Bangalore government on shifting of IPL semi-final venue

Were security fears just a ruse to shift IPL semifinals from Bangalore to Mumbai? Did politics, both within and outside the BCCI, play a role in shifting the matches to Mumbai to ensure Mumbai Indians play their crucial match at home ground? Sources in the state government believe so.

Chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and home minister VS Acharya made it clear that minor incidents like detection of a few crude bombs could not be the only reason for shifting IPL semifinals to Mumbai.

BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla’s statement that Bangalore city police commissioner Shankar M Bidari had expressed apprehensions about providing security for the matches to be held on April 21 and 22 have come under a cloud, with Yeddyurappa dismissing it as “baseless and far from truth.”

Before the BCCI announced its decision to shift the venue, KSCA president Srikanta Dutta Wadiyar and secretary Brijesh Patel, who reviewed security arrangements with commissioner Bidari, had expressed satisfaction about the measures taken by the police.

“We do not know why the organisers of IPL had taken a decision to shift the IPL semifinals slated to be played in Bangalore this week. We have made adequate security for both matches and every arrangement was shown to the organisers and they also had expressed satisfaction about the security arrangements. The government does not think that the IPL fixtures have been shifted due to security threats alone. There appears to be some other reason, which we will know once the investigations are over,” Acharya said in Udupi.

He also said that investigations indicated that the planting of bombs was not an act of terrorist elements but it was done by local disruptive elements.

Yeddyurappa, expressing his displeasure and surprise, said the issue was not just about a cricket match. It involved the prestige and honour of Bangalore. “We have already instructed the state police to take complete control of the stadium to provide fool-proof security. Not just the stadium, in fact, we have decided to bring the entire area around the stadium including MG Road under state police’s security blanket for the semifinals,” he said.

The chief minister, who reviewed the security with top police officers, said come what may the state government would not allow any one to disturb law and order in the city. Describing the detection of bombs around the stadium as minor incidents, he declined to term it as an act of terrorism.

Replying to a query, Yeddyurappa said there was no need for handing over the investigations to National Investigation Agency. He also stated that there were reasons beyond security concerns for shifting the matches. But he declined to elaborate.
“Instead of blaming the state police, they should be appreciated for the presence of mind shown on Saturday,” he said.