Five injured in bomb blasts at Indian stadium

BANGALORE, India, April 17, (AFP) - Five people were injured Saturday when two small bombs exploded at a cricket stadium in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, sparking panic among thousands of fans, police said.

The explosions came amid heightened fears over security at sporting events in India, which is due to host the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October.

Police commissioner Alok Kumar described the explosions as "two low-intensity blasts," adding an earlier generator blast which injured three other people was an accident caused by a short-circuit.

"They were crude bombs," Kumar said.

One of the bombs, which injured three policemen, a private security guard and sports fan attending the match, was planted at a stadium gate outside the 40,000-seat Chinnaswamy stadium.

Police reported no casualties from the other device planted 500 metres from the stadium. The explosions sparked panic among thousands of spectators streaming into the stadium for the match where the Bangalore Royal Challengers team were taking on the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament.

"We are investigating the blasts. No arrests have been made," said Kumar.

The blasts delayed play by about an hour. The two teams have a number of international players in their ranks including England's former captain Kevin Pietersen and South Africa's Kieron Pollard.

Security was already tight at the stadium after a bombing at a restaurant in the western city of Pune in February that killed 11 people, claimed by an Islamist splinter of a larger Pakistan-based group.

Soon after the Pune blast, the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online news website said it had received a warning from Al-Qaeda-linked militant Ilyas Kashmiri about attacking sports events in India.

Three policemen were hurt when a generator being used to power floodlights in the stadium exploded, police said.